The Waiting Time
by Helena Mira
Summary: The time is getting closer for Phoebe's baby to be born. But surprises await all of the Everetts as they get closer to the date. A prediction by Aunt Henrietta sets the town talking as friends and family close ranks to protect Phoebe and the baby. What else could happen?
1. Chapter 1

**The Waiting Time 1**

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

_Hamlet, Act I, scene 5, lines 166-167_

**Prologue**

Hal woke up early on a glorious, sunny summer morning. The heavy thunderstorms over the weekend seemed to have scrubbed the hazy sky to a clear blue. Now that everyone was home safe and sound from the weekend's adventures, he was ready to focus on the arrival of his youngest child.

His lovely wife lay sleeping beside him. She looked beautiful in the early morning light. At eight months pregnant, she rested gently on her left side. She had grown quite large. Too large to make love to, but he was able to enjoy her nonetheless. She was not shy about allowing him to see her body in this state. She still enjoyed his touch as he massaged her back muscles after the stress of carrying her precious cargo all day.

He still looked at the bulge now slightly below her waist in amazement. He had been watching it grow over the past six months in awe. If she weren't sleeping so peacefully he would have begun to caress her and the child gently. For now he must satisfy himself with watching her and dreaming of the day that their little bundle of joy would sleep beside, rather than within her mother. It was warm, even for early in the day. They had slept only beneath a light sheet.

She stirred slightly and sighed softly. There was the faintest of smiles on her lips. Hal knew that she was dreaming of the child within. He knew that most of her thoughts these days centered on her daughter. She was an active child. Hal was amused to think of Phoebe's first view of the baby moving below.

"She's kicking, Hal!" she said amazement as she looked down. "Look! You can actually see her kicking!"

Hal had stood behind her and reached his hands around so that he could grasp her belly. The child was indeed moving quite a bit.

He smiled now because he could see that the child was beginning to move again. Phoebe wouldn't stay asleep much longer. He pulled her thick blonde hair off her face and began to kiss her. Slowly she responded as she gradually woke up and then turned on her back and demanded his full mouth. He gladly gave it. He had to admit that he missed her. He was looking forward to the day when the child was born and he could make love to his wife again.

Done with kissing her for the moment, as he cradled her in his arms and gently caressed her, he returned to his early morning reverie. She cuddled closer, as she always did in these moments of tender intimacy. He enjoyed the new voluptuousness that pregnancy had added to her figure and she was pleased by his enjoyment. There were many kinds of lovemaking and the challenge of her girth gave them the inspiration to explore new ways of satisfying their appetites for one another. And explore, they did.

For now he had to make due with pleasuring her in ways other than the "usual way." She also insisted on returning the favor, although it was not the same. However it released the tension for both of them. They had been such passionate lovers since the time of their marriage that it seemed odd to go to bed and not make love before sleeping. However it was a sacrifice that they willingly made for the miracle of life she now carried. In a little less than a month that same little miracle would make her entrance to the world. At that point, their lives would be changed forever.

It had been a warm summer so far, even by California standards. It had also been very dry. This had made Butch and Prudence happy because it meant that his baseball team had had no rainouts and she was able to swim almost everyday at Brownie camp. Hal had been away now for a month at Cal Tech for the past month. At the local science fair that spring he had won a scholarship to an elite program of the best eighth grade science students in the state. He was busy, but still found time to write almost everyday.

He and Phoebe missed him, but they were obviously very proud of him. Because he had a sabbatical coming up in September, his own workload was very light. He enjoyed spending the long, lazy days with his wife. With all of the children occupied during the day, they were able to spend many hours relaxing in each other's company. His mother, who lived up the street, warned them to take advantage of it while it lasted.

"Once that baby comes along," she said. "She'll have you up night and day with her demands."

Phoebe had smiled softly when she said that and even he felt a little sentimental. When his other three children were infants, he had been so busy teaching and earning tenure that he hadn't been around much. His first wife had relied very much on her own mother for company. Now, for the first five months of her life, he would be able to enjoy significant time with his infant daughter on a daily basis. Then, when the older children returned home from school, he would have time to spend with them.

Despite the fact that the baby would be a half-sister, none of the children had even thought to use the word. Prudence referred to her as her "real sister (or brother)," mostly because when Phoebe's younger sister Trelawney had initially joined the family, she had confused others by referring to her as her sister. It had taken a while to sort things out by explaining that the girl was like a sister, but not a "real" sister.

Butch had felt the same way when those outside the family called Phoebe his stepmother. He had responded that she "feels like a pretty real Mom to me," when once questioned about it. Hal smiled at the thought. There was harmony in his home because no one viewed anyone else as steps or halves. They all just loved each other.

Then the alarm went off, breaking into his thoughts. Phoebe groaned. He knew that although already awake, she didn't really want to get up. She was having trouble getting herself in and out of bed these days between the heat and her growing size. He had tried to convince her to let him get Butch and Prudence their breakfast and then pack them off for their activities, but she still insisted on doing it herself. She didn't like the mess he made in the kitchen and the fact that sometimes he forgot to feed Waldo, their English sheepdog, to dire consequences.

So they got up together, saw the kids off and with a sigh she sat down at the kitchen table to have a cup of tea. Coffee gave her heartburn these days, just as almost everything else did. He set down her teacup and after sitting beside her, picked up her hand to kiss it. She rewarded him with one of her gentle smiles and rested her cheek on his hand for a minute.

"What's on the agenda for today?" he asked, knowing that there was some appointment or another.

"We're interviewing possible nurses to help with the home birth," she replied.

"You mean that Mrs. Clancy will be interviewing possible nurses," he grimaced.

Mrs. Clancy was the midwife who Phoebe had decided was the best for her, mostly because she reminded her of the old midwife at home, Mrs. Pengally. Hal had asked her cousin Emmeline if Mrs. Pengally was something of a drill sergeant.

"I'd say more of a dragon," replied the young woman with a smile. "But she was the best. And if Mrs. Clancy makes Phoebe feel safe, don't complain. That's the important thing, you know."

Hal was still getting used to the idea that this child would be born at home, in the bed in which she had been conceived. Initially, the doctor had refused to touch the case with a ten-foot pole, but they had been able to find an experienced midwife who was board certified. So the doctor agreed to continue her prenatal care with two conditions. An experienced obstetric nurse must be found to help with the birth and a promise was made that if any complications presented before labor started, the child would be born in the hospital.

Phoebe had reluctantly agreed to the second condition, but felt better now that the baby had dropped and was in the correct position. She had had a healthy pregnancy all along. The baby appeared to be of a normal weight, and she knew exactly what to expect. The midwife had told them that _that_ was the most important thing.

"For some women today, a home birth seems like a romantic, back to nature sort of idea," she explained. "Then the active labor kicks into high gear and the regrets start. But since you've been present for several home births you know what you're in for. However I do suggest that you get the younger children out of the house, and that enormous hairy creature."

The agreement was made that Butch and Prudence would stay with his Dad at their house. Waldo, "that enormous hairy creature," would go there as well. Mother wanted to be there and Phoebe was grateful. Trelawney would also be allowed to be present. Phoebe's cousin Emmeline, who was to be the godmother, had somewhat reluctantly also promised to be present. The only other home birth that she had attended was Trelawney's and that had been a difficult one.

He agreed to be there but was really not looking forward to seeing his wife in pain, not to mention all of the other messy aspects. However Phoebe's father had sat loyally by his wife's side through both of her births, so she expected him to do the same. It was one of the very few times that he had any regrets about the cultural differences between them.

This morning they spoke to three women before they found one that Phoebe was comfortable with and the midwife liked. The nurse, Mrs. Morgan, would also stay for an extra day or two until Phoebe and the baby were comfortable nursing together. Despite being one of the most natural things in the world, all women needed help in the beginning. If Phoebe were at home in the village she would have had more opinions than she knew what to do with.

That was another one of her insistences, no bottles. Initially, he had found this very disappointing, since feeding the baby was one of those activities that he had been looking forward to himself. With the others, he had been happy to take the "late night shift" to give his first wife a little bit more extra sleep.

However, finally he happily agreed to this, even though it meant that he wouldn't be able to feed the baby until she was older. Especially since nursing would give the child immunities that would keep her healthy for the rest of her life. And he knew that she was looking forward to it. Nursing her daughter would develop a close bond that would last for a lifetime.

Now that a decision on the nurse had been made and everything was in place for the home birth, there was nothing left to do but wait for the big day, all the early precautions were in case the baby came prematurely, but the midwife was highly doubtful of that now. She explained that first babies were usually late and came after a long labor. It was second babies that came much faster. He and Phoebe had shared a smile after that comment. They were very hopeful that this would be their first baby.

**A Change of Heart**

Tom Williams wasn't especially surprised when he got a call one Monday morning from Catherine Everett inviting them up to spend the day and stay dinner later in the week. Prudence had some sort of a Brownie Jamboree in the morning for her day camp and Butch had a baseball game that afternoon.

One thing that made him happy about Bernice's final change of heart about Phoebe's pregnancy was that he could get these phone calls and hear no trepidation in the voice on the other end of the line. Bernice would have no real interest in the baseball game but she was always ready to attend any event involving Prudence.

Bernice was a much happier woman for having accepted Hal's remarriage to another woman. However, what no one (except him) realized, was that she was only able to do this _after_ she had finally come to terms Helen's death. One of the reasons why their contact with the family had been so patchy since her passing was that it made it easier for Bernice to avoid acknowledging that she was, in fact, gone. The news that Hal was involved in a serious relationship with another, much younger woman, had hit her like a ton of bricks a year ago.

When she finally discovered that this was not a passing fling and that they had an "understanding," she had insisted on visiting the family, in order to meet her. He had then been deeply embarrassed by her rude treatment of the young woman. Conversely, he had found Phoebe's kind and gentle response to that "assault" very touching.

Not surprisingly, Bernice managed to put herself "on the outs" with all the kids, who obviously adored "Nanny" and wanted her to marry their Dad, and Hal himself of course. Yet it was the unusual little girl, Trelawney, who had really moved him. Although she was Phoebe's sister, she was every bit as much a member of the family as the other children. He recognized in her the innocent simplicity of his deceased son Stephen. If Bernice had not been so busy hating Phoebe at that time, she might have seen it too.

After four months of listening to her anger and bitterness over first the loss of her surviving child and then the loss of her grandchildren, he had decided that if he didn't do something, they would both be miserable for the rest of their lives. The single visit that Hal and the children had made to their home in November had been an unmitigated disaster.

She had been highly insulted first by the fact that he refused to allow them to visit his home again, _and then_, that he would not bring Phoebe unless she would promise to treat her with the respect due the children's new mother. Butch and Prudence had been openly hostile to her. When he had called asking for a visit at Christmas, Hal had flatly told him no. He was not going to put either his children or his wife through that again, especially during their first holiday together as a family.

At that point he realized that there was only one thing for it. They all needed to meet on neutral ground. Bernice had fought him tooth and nail against going to the Christmas Pageant. She only agreed with the understanding that they would leave as soon as it was over. She neither wanted to see Hal's new wife nor face another rejection by her grandchildren. But the circumstance that even he had not factored in was the little girl who wanted to make everyone, above all her sister, happy.

He did not know how Trelawney managed to follow them out into the parking lot so quickly after the pageant. She seemed to glow in the light of the open door behind her, as she sweetly smiled at them. She had looked like an ethereal little angel herself in her pale blue dress and long golden curls tied back in a ribbon.

And then, in her musical little treble-pitched voice, she gently chided Bernice because "her angel" (referring to Helen) was weeping. Even his wife's heart at melted at the sight of the child and for the first time she recognized her similarity to little Stephen.

Phoebe had looked terrified when the young pastor brought her out, and she had seen her sister with them. But ultimately it was a simple gesture by the little girl that overcame the last bit of antagonism in Bernice's manner. It is impossible to hate someone, when an angel places your hand in hers. Especially if you are surrounded by people, who are praying, that you will accept the gentle young woman into your heart.

The way forward had not always been straight or easy. Mostly, Bernice had made every step of it more difficult for herself. But the faith of the young girl had been relentless. She refused to believe that anyone could not love her sister. And she knew how much his granddaughter Prudence needed Bernice. In fact it was almost as much as Bernice needed Prudence.

It was no surprise to anyone that Prudence was an emotionally needy child. She had no memory of her mother and had only known a father consumed by his work, at least until Phoebe came. As her nanny, Phoebe had filled this need in her life. But then she was forced to share her attention with Trelawney, the orphaned sister who needed Phoebe's care even more than she did. And _then_ with Phoebe focused on her unborn child, despite the fact that she had always wanted a younger sister, she began to feel lost again.

It was at this point that she and Bernice began to bond in a very unique way. Nobody knew how Trelawney knew, but Prudence did indeed look more and more like Helen, as she grew older. She loved to look at pictures of her "angel Mommy" and see the resemblance. As a bittersweet irony, the first picture that she could compare herself with was a picture of Helen at her age dressed as an angel for a Christmas pageant.

If Bernice had initially found the resemblance painful, it was now a comfort to her. This became even more so after the recent dance recital and when she discovered how engaged that the child was in Brownies. Both of these had been among Helen's favorite activities.

Thus Bernice could see that although she had never known her mother, she was still very much like her, even having the same interests. Having a stepmother did not replace her mother, nor had Prudence rejected her and her memory, as his wife had originally feared. In fact, seeing her "earth Mommy" pregnant with her own child, had sparked her own very natural curiosity in the woman who had given birth to her.

With Prudence to begin to fill in the gap in her life, Bernice moved further away from her grief. As she did so, she realized that it was the lovely young woman, whom she had initially resented, that had made it all possible. Had Phoebe not come to their daughter's family and created the impetus for Bernice to take a more active interest in their lives. It was likely that they would have drifted farther apart.

Like the child Trelawney, Phoebe never bore any of the resentment towards her that Hal and the children did. In fact, her homely family values were such that she actually _wanted _them in the children's lives. Rather than trying to remake their daughter's family in a way that excluded them, as Bernice had feared, she wanted them there to provide the love and support that every child needs from their grandparents. And that was not something that she herself could offer them.

Young Phoebe had also known tremendous heartache, and the loss of close family. In fact, she was still grieving for that loss. The very recent and traumatic deaths of her own parents had made her especially sensitive to Bernice's grief. Yet she never sought sympathy for herself. She never tried to play the victim to Bernice's outright rejection of her. Rather, she had always extended a loving hand of warmth and kindness.

He was not exactly sure of what force had motivated him to offer himself as a grandparent to her child, when he saw her for the first time after she had become pregnant. It had been rather startling to feel the child kick back in response to the suggestion. Especially after he learned that he had been the first to feel her presence in that way. He often thought that it might be the half-Cornish blood in the child responding to the half-Cornish blood in him.

It was of course a fanciful notion, but then all people of the Cornish race were given to whimsy and fancy. He had heard many stories from his father of the little people who inhabited the moors around his hometown of Camborne. And that was one of the most delightful aspects of little Trelawney.

She too was full of tales of knights and princesses, good kings and evil witches, and all the stuff of which fairy tales are made. As usual, as much as he would look forward to seeing his grandchildren whenever they visited, he was looking forward to seeing that little girl as well.

And when Bernice finally realized that this sweet little girl had actually engineered her reconciliation with her family, she began to feel very tenderly towards her. The child had forced her to face her fears, all of which were truly non-existent, and now rather than living out her life in bitter loneliness, she would have the love and affection of all of her grandchildren, but most especially that of her little granddaughter, the one who was most like her lost daughter.

So on a hot and sunny summer morning they drove up to where the family lived. During the drive, rather than having to endure her usual sullen silence, he was treated to her chatter about the children. She wondered about how much Prudence had grown and whether Butch had maintained his perfect record of saves.

She asked him to tell her once again about young Hal's scholarship to Cal Tech for the summer. She wanted to be able to ask "intelligent" question to find out how he was doing. And she hoped that they would also get to see "her" little Trelawney. She even expressed concern that Phoebe might be pushing herself to hard to keep up with the children. Yes, a new chapter in their lives had definitely begun.

The Brownie jamboree in the morning was exactly what one would have expected. There was an exhibition of arts and crafts, some singing and dancing, and a lot of little girls joyfully running around in the hot sun. Bernice was delighted to see how happy Prudence was. The rest of the family was out in force, except for the other children who had their own activities. Phoebe looked like she had wanted to go home before she got there, but gamely put on a cheerful face for Prudence's sake.

Catherine and Phoebe's cousin Emmeline were standing guard so that she would not overdo things, while Hal and Rob, just as he and Bernice, allowed themselves to be pulled off to whatever activity was next. About halfway through, Phoebe had had enough, so Catherine brought her home. Bernice was concerned.

"Why did she come if she wasn't really up to it?" she asked Hal.

"Have you ever tried to stop her from doing something that she had set her mind to?" he asked in response. "Besides, Prudence gave her the big puppy dog eyes this morning and she couldn't say no."

"Well," she replied. "I hope that she's not planning to go to the baseball game this afternoon."

"No, she is not," said Hal. "In fact Butch told her that he didn't want her to come to any more games. He said that it would make him nervous if he thought that she might get sick just to see him play."

"Well, I guess that's the difference between a son and a daughter," commented Tom.

"Or the difference between Butch and Prudence," corrected Rob. "Butch has a tendency to worry more about Phoebe than the other two. It's not that he loves her any more than they do, it's that he worries about her more. Prudence on the other hand is always looking for more attention. And she is not above playing the guilt card if she gets the chance."

"How is Hal doing?" asked Tom quickly, before this line of conversation about Prudence had a chance to go any farther. He had no doubt about the fact that Bernice would not be pleased by any criticism of Prudence.

"He's doing great!" said Hal. "We were just talking to him on Sunday. He loves the science program and is making lots of new friends. Of course he is also eating, sleeping, and breathing math and science, so he's in heaven for the moment."

"I'm glad to hear it," replied Tom. "That was certainly a very impressive project that he did for the science fair. And it tickled me that he dedicated it to Trelawney."

"That relationship has certainly come a long way in the past year," commented Rob.

"Actually," corrected Hal. "In the last eighteen months. It's hard to imagine it now, but it's only been a year and a half since Trelawney came to live with us. Boy, were there some big battles when she first arrived, mostly over the bathroom. Although I think that some of them were instigated by Prudence so that she could have the pleasure of an ally in the family's own version of the 'battle of the sexes.'"

"But then there was the homework war," added Rob.

"That was an interesting one," said Hal. "Hal and Trelawney should have been on the same side, since they both like to work in peace and quiet, but their own version of sibling rivalry got in the way."

"But now they seem to have made up," said Bernice. "It looks like they are the best of friends. Is it because she moved out?"

Tom winced. He suspected that that could be a sensitive topic. But Hal took the question in stride.

"No, I'd say that it's in spite of that," answered Hal. "You see, Trelawney was the inspiration for Hal's project."

Bernice looked surprised.

"Didn't I tell you that, Bernice?" asked Tom. Looking at his wife's face, he could see that he hadn't.

"Yes, well, Trelawney challenged his notions about the make up of the solar system and he ended up researching string theory," Hal explained. "It was really Trelawney who taught him that good scientists re-examine proven theories rather than just accept them. That's how science moves forward and makes new discoveries."

"I can see that happening," replied Bernice.

"You can?" chorused the three men.

Bernice looked amused.

"I do pay more attention to these things than you realize," she said. "Trelawney has a very unique view of the world around her. It is very easy to imagine that she and Hal would bump heads over some idea or another. And you have to give Hal credit where credit is due. He's in love with learning and discovering new things. If she piqued his curiosity about something it makes sense that he would pursue it."

Tom had to look at his wife in admiration. She really was getting passed her grief for Helen and re-engaging with the rest of the world in a very positive way. Listening to her talk now made him see her once again as the woman of their earlier years together, before they had lost first Stephen and then Helen.

Although until now reticent about it, it was obvious that she was taking a lively interest in all the children, not just Prudence. He was gratified to see that Rob and Hal had noticed as well. After she spoke, they had looked at one another in a combination of surprise and bewilderment. After all, this was a Bernice that neither of them had ever seen before.

"Well, this event looks like it is winding down," he said. "What's the game plan for this afternoon?"

"Dad and I are going to the game after lunch," said Hal. "We were assuming that you'd want to come with us, Tom. Bernice, I'm sure that Butch would understand if you wanted to stay back at the house with the ladies. Phoebe will be resting of course, but you can hang around with Catherine and Emmeline. Prudence and Trelawney will be coming home earlier than we will anyway. And I know that you want to spend some individual time with Prudence."

"Sounds good to me," replied Bernice. "I would much be with 'the girls' than out on a hot baseball field."

Tom was once again pleased. If she had come to the game, no doubt she would have wanted to leave early. He was also happy that she would have the opportunity to spend some time with the "other women" in the family. He knew that in the future, activities with the boys would more often be a "guy thing." He was glad to know that in the future he wouldn't have to choose between seeing his grandchildren or leaving her at home alone.

**The Good King**

The game was a success, with Butch racking up another save, and the family celebrated two happy events that evening at Rob's house. After dinner, the children went out back to play and the adults sat in the living room drinking coffee and tea. Once the children were gone, Tom got the distinct impression that the others wanted to talk some kind of business with them. However, none of them seemed to know where to begin. Finally, Phoebe's cousin Emmeline broached the topic.

"Well, I haven't seen you in seven months," she said, sounding almost formal with her charming British accent. "But it seems as though as of late you have become closer to these other members of the family."

"Yes, we have," said Bernice warmly. "And I would have to say that it is mostly due to little Trelawney. She is very determined when she sets her mind on something."

"That's our Trelawney," replied Emmelne fondly. "She may be a sweet and simple child, but she always wants to do what's best for everyone."

"Well, I must agree with that," said Bernice nodding. "It is difficult to imagine what our lives would have been like without her."

"There is much more to Trelawney than meets the eye," commented Emmeline looking around. "She is very sensitive to various aspects of the world around her. It's almost as if she was too good sometimes. In fact, to protect herself from reality at times, she has constructed her own almost fairy tale world where those she knows play different roles that she uses to understand them. Catherine here has discovered that they match up with Jung's archetypes."

"I can see that," said Tom. "The child has a vivid imagination. And I can see how she would have trouble understanding and interacting with the rest of the world."

He looked over at Bernice and could see that she was buried in thought. No doubt she was remembering Stephen and his simple understanding of the world, and the imaginary worlds where he lived and played in, not to mention his difficulties in school.

"We finaly reached a point," said Catherine, now picking up the thread. "Where we had to pull her out of school. Since February, we have been teaching her at home. Public school was just not the right place for her. The other children teased her and her teachers, especially her English teacher, found her to be a nuisance. In September, we'll be starting her off at a local all-girls, Catholic school. Hopefully, her new teachers and classmates will be more understanding of her special qualities."

"I hope that they will," said Tom. "But I don't think that we're here to talk about Trelawney and her difficulties in school."

The others all looked at each other. This time Rob picked up the story.

"When Catherine and I came down for the blessing last year, we stayed for an extra few days to babysit the kids while Hal and Phoebe got a few days away," he explained. "We've stayed and in fact permanently moved here because first Trelawney, and then we realized Phoebe and the rest of the family, needed us. It was on the night before we were set to leave that we finally discovered what had been going on in that little head of hers."

Phoebe looked down at her hands. Emmeline put her arm around her and said softly, "Hush now, love. It's over and done with. We'll just move on then, won't we?"

For moment everyone was silent. Tom looked at Bernice, wondering what was coming next.

"Before Trelawney came to us, she had suffered a serious, uh, 'injury' at the hands of someone whom she came to refer to later as 'the unicorn,'" continued Hal. "It was then that I discovered that I was her gallant knight who had saved the two fair maidens, Phoebe and herself, from him when he returned. But at this time, the stories started up again with a new twist as Mother and Dad were getting ready to leave."

"They might as well know the whole lot. It's the only way that they will make sense of it," interrupted Emmeline. "The unicorn was her name for Phoebe's ex-betrothed from birth. No one in the family, not even her parents, knew of the assault. If we had, the betrothal would have ended a few years ago. And that would have saved Hal and Phoebe a lot of heartache.

"But I digress. In fact, I was responsible for him coming here to finally, after a number of years avoiding it, do his duty and marry Phoebe. Trelawney couldn't abide him although at the time we didn't know why. But she and your grandson Hal managed to run him off so that these two could finally realize how much in love they were and plan to get married."

There were now tears in Phoebe's eyes.

"I'll finish this," she quietly. "We only discovered the truth about the unicorn when two of my other aunties came to visit. They tried to speak with Trelawney about her impulsive behavior and threatened to separate her from me and bring her back to the village if she didn't improve. That was when she really became upset. None of it made any sense. When we got the full story, the aunties decided to leave her be and gave their blessing to the marriage. And the rest seemed to be history. That is until Auntie Henrietta showed up."

"Yes," said Catherine. "The night before we were to leave, Trelawney predicted her coming. What was it she said? Oh, yes, 'the circus is coming to town.' But only Phoebe knew what that meant. Later that night, she woke up from a terrifying nightmare. She called her the evil witch. Then she told us that we needed the good queen to protect them. That, it turned out, was me.

"Because she was now married, Phoebe was no longer the fair maiden, but the lovely lady. Hal is still the gallant knight. Prudence is the wee fairy, because she comforted her when she had nightmares before we knew about them, and Rob is the wise gentleman. He makes all the decisions for the family. She has been told that she must obey him."

"Who are Hal and Butch?" asked Tom, now curious.

"The elder and younger fools," replied Emmeline quickly. "But let's not go into that. With the recent troubles and all of Auntie's crazy premonitions, Trelawney has now told us to be on the lookout for the good king."

"Who is Tom," supplied Bernice.

They all looked at her in astonishment.

"How did you know that?" asked Tom.

"It's really very simple," she said with a smile. "Trelawney has always referred to her father as her 'Papa.' Our grandchildren call you, Papa. It only makes sense."

"Yes, it does," said Emmeline. "Prudence figured it out as well, and so did Phoebe. The biggest problem with Auntie and her rubbish is that there tends to be a kernel of truth in what she predicts. These premonitions, however, tend to confound rather than enlighten. It is quite maddening really."

"This past weekend, three of her premonitions came to pass, or perhaps better stated almost did," said Rob. "Hal, Butch, and I went out of town to one of his baseball games. On the way home we got caught in a terrible storm and car went off the highway just as a huge lightening bolt struck nearby. This meant that her prediction of the danger of the blinding light and the three lives hanging in the balance came true. Lucky for us one of Trelawney's friends came up and rescued us before anything worse happened. She had sent him."

"Meanwhile at home, poor Phoebe was so upset that she very nearly went into premature labor," added Catherine. "Fortunately our pastor friend, Pastor Jason, was here to calm her. He was with us because Trelawney sent for _him_. But had he not been here, the innocent would surely have suffered."

"So let me get this straight," said Tom. "Three of your Aunt's premonitions of misfortune almost came true, but Trelawney stopped them."

"That sums it up," said Rob. "It is also why we are taking her advice about finding the good king seriously."

"Yes, we have no alternative if we hope to keep everyone safe," said Emmeline. "Aunt Henrietta may be bonkers, but she is being used by some cosmic force that is trying to interfere with the safe birth of Phoebe's child. We don't know why but we think that this may be the reason that Auntie has been trying to get Trelawney to go back home. It seems that she is the only one capable of fighting that 'malevolent force,' whatever that might be."

"And you can protect Trelawney as well?" asked Bernice, now looking concerned.

"Yes, as long as she is in Catherine's care, she is safe," replied Emmeline.

"And Phoebe and the baby?" asked Tom, also looking anxious.

"Need the good king," she said. "Tom, I know that this is asking a lot, but would you be willing to be present at the birth?"

Tom was silent. He had never been present at a birth before. He knew that they wouldn't be asking if it weren't important. He looked over at Phoebe and her eyes seemed to be pleading. After everything that she and her sister had done to return their family to them this was the least that he could do.

"I would be honored," he said quietly.

There was an audible sigh of relief among all of the others, including, to his surprise, his wife.

"We have one more thing to ask," said Phoebe. "Would you be willing to be my child's godfather?"

"I would be even more honored," he replied immediately. "And I would take my commitment very seriously."

"And I will help him," added Bernice. "One of us will always be there for you."

Tom looked around curiously at the Everetts and Phoebe's cousin. It seemed extraordinary that they should be taking the words of a fey little girl so seriously. They spoke of her abilities to understand the cosmos and its nuances as if it were completely normal for a twelve-year-old girl. She was certainly a unique child, but her ability to see through the facades of others and foresee aspects of the future was uncanny.

Then, at that moment, the little one came running into the living room and curled up next to her sister on the couch. Phoebe lovingly brushed the stray hairs back from her face.

"Has the good king accepted?" she asked, looking directly at him.

"The good king has accepted," he said.

"Jolly good!" she said happily. "You can help us pick the Professor up off the floor if he faints."

"Trelawney!" said Catherine, Emmeline, and Phoebe together.

But the mischievous girl just laughed. As usual, she knew what others were feeling, even if they had not told her. But then she turned and looked at Bernice.

"Mrs. Williams," she said. "Thank you for loving Phoebe and the baby. Both of your angels are happy now."

"Both of my angels?" Bernice asked slowly.

"Of course," she replied cheerfully. "Helen and Stephen. They have both been most worried about you. Angels can do that, you know, worry that is."

Tom could see that Rob, Catherine, and Emmeline were all astonished. Phoebe and Hal were surprised, but at least they had known of Stephen's existence, although when they had told Hal, they had not mentioned his name.

"Come here for a minute, Trelawney," said Bernice gently.

The girl walked over and stood in front of her. Bernice reached up and took her hands.

"How do you know about Stephen?" she asked. "Did Hal or Phoebe tell you?"

"Oh, no," she said. "I have always known about Stephen. He's a lovely little boy, a little fey, like me, but that is no bother in heaven."

"Trelawney," said Emmeline sternly. "That is enough."

"But Em . . ." began the child, turning towards her cousin.

"We shall speak about this later, little one," she interrupted, but this time more gently.

"I am most sorry," she said, now looking around at everyone. "But when I am happy, sometimes I forget and say things that I shouldn't. Are you bothered that I told about Stephen, Mrs. Williams?"

"No, little girl," she replied with tears in her eyes. "I am glad to know that _both _of my angels are happy."

Trelawney rewarded her with one of her brilliant smiles and skipped out of the room. Tom looked after her fondly. He hoped that her new school would work out for her. After all of the good things that she had made happen for others, she deserved a few good things of her own. Then he felt Bernice pat his hand.

"She really does remind one of Stephen, doesn't she?" she said.

Silently, he nodded. But he thought, such a child had a difficult path to follow. He could only hope that her fate would be happier than his son's had been. He could sense in her the same fragility as he had in his son. It really was good that she had so many people to protect her. Without asking, he knew that they could now count on Bernice as one of them.

_To be continued . . ._


	2. Chapter 2

**The Waiting Time 2**

**Fancies**

As Phoebe's pregnancy had advanced, she had found that she fancied the oddest things. First it had been fish and chips. Then it had been shortbread. But not the "shortbread" biscuits that one bought in the supermarket. No, this craving could only be satisfied by the inch thick shortbread made with a pound of butter and sprinkled lightly with granulated sugar that she made for herself using one of Grandmother Figalilly's old recipes. By seven months she had gained over thirty pounds and the doctor told her to cut back on the fatty foods and eat more fruits and vegetables.

It was at this time that she had discovered that she had a fondness for watermelon. And of course, the lovely thing about watermelon was its size and the fact that it could be cut into so many slices. The children thought that she was crazy and her mother-in-law Catherine tried to tell her "all things in moderation," but she didn't care. It was a long, hot summer and the cold watermelon was very refreshing. And it didn't give her heartburn.

One disadvantage of the baby growing larger was the heartburn that came along with it. It was so bad one night that Hal went out to an all-night grocery to get her more antacid tablets because she had run out. But now she was taking them by the handful. She was starting to fully appreciate one of her friend's remarks that sooner or later she would get to the point where she would want to yell at the doctor to just "get this kid out of me." Yes, she had certainly reached that less than romantic, last stage of pregnancy.

But Phoebe hadn't wanted a doctor to deliver her child in hospital. She had insisted on a midwife and that her child be born at home. She knew that this was another one of her fancies that her husband and his family had hoped would go away. Only her sister was truly supportive. Everyone else, especially other women friends who had given birth, thought that she was crazy.

"You do know about pain?" asked one.

Yes, she knew all about that. Her mother had been in labor with Trelawney for many hours.

"Do you know about the after-birth?" asked another.

Yes, she had certainly seen that a number of times as well. It was one of those things that they would prepare for.

Then she had found out that if she gave birth in hospital, they would take her baby away from her to sleep in a nursery and only bring her for visits in the very beginning. This was something that she would not tolerate. She wanted her child with her from the first. She wanted to hold her in arms as soon as she was out. She wanted her to sleep beside her bed in the cradle that her father had built all those years ago for her. She wanted to be free to nurse her whenever she cried.

When Hal realized that she was serious, he helped her to find a midwife and nurse, and to prepare the bedroom. He also reluctantly agreed to be present to hold her hand. However, as the time grew closer, his resistance waned, somewhat. They had spent many hours and days together, enjoying one another's company, as they had not since their honeymoon.

He sat up with her when she couldn't sleep at night from the heartburn (that was always worse when she was lying down) and massaged her back when it ached. They talked about the birth and she described what she had seen. Slowly he had come to understand that this process was just as beautiful as the one that had started it all. On one dark night when she was having trouble sleeping, he finally admitted what his real fear was.

"When Helen was dying toward the very end, she was in terrible pain," he explained. "It was a pain that was so awful that the narcotics they gave her couldn't even relieve it. It hurt just watching her suffer. I felt helpless because there was nothing that I could do. I never want to see someone I love go through pain like that again."

"But Hal, this is not the same at all," she had said gently. "This is not the pain of death, it is the pain of life. I want you there. I need you there to hold my hand as we bring this new life into the world. And I am choosing to have natural childbirth. I don't want the drugs that would dull my senses to the terrible beauty of the moment when my child first sees the light of day."

He had stared into space for a very long time, now struggling with his own fear.

"But suppose rather than being a help, I only make things worse?" he asked.

"You could never do that," she said. "And nobody says that you have to help with the birthing. That's what the midwife and the nurse are for. You're there for me."

"I just don't want to see you in pain," he finally said.

"You'll feel differently when you see your daughter coming out and hold her while she's still wet with the fluid," she encouraged him.

"And I could still do that if you had the baby in the hospital and had an epidural," he suggested hopefully. "And you wouldn't be in nearly as much pain."

She shook her head.

"Aren't you afraid of the pain?" he asked.

"Of course, but it is all a part of life," she said, with a smile. "If I been that much afraid pain, it is unlikely that this process would have even started. Remember?"

The look on Hal's face told her that he did remember and that it had even been a concern of his at the time. He was her first and only lover and had initiated her into the act that had created this new life. The experience had not been pain-free. Now she understood his worry at that time, which she had then felt was most out of proportion.

"I will try to think of that when the time comes," he said.

"And I will be thinking about how much easier it will be when I'm not hauling around all these extra pounds," she replied lightly.

He finally smiled.

"If you can be brave then I can be brave," he said. "And I'll try not to pass out."

"Well," she answered. "I guess that that's why you're a mathematician and not a doctor."

"I never could stand the sight of blood," he grimaced.

But now that the birth was imminent, all that she truly fancied was rest. They had crossed the line between July and August and the day of the big event was slowly approaching. The doctor had estimated mid to late August, but the midwife thought sooner, based on the size and position of the baby.

Phoebe had to admit that she liked the older woman's opinion a lot more. In fact, on the whole she much preferred her to the doctor. If the insurance company hadn't kicked up such a fuss at the idea, she would have dispensed with the doctor entirely. But these Yanks were so wedded to their modern machines and medicines that they failed to realize that most healthy people, including pregnant women, didn't need all that nonsense to stay healthy.

Her midwife never treated her as a sick person. And unlike the doctor, her touch was gentler when she did the necessary poking and prodding. _And_ she was never hurried. She had time to answer every question and sooth every worry. Phoebe never got the idea that she was just one more case on an assembly line of pregnant women. She trusted her.

Mrs. Clancy was in her mid-sixties and had delivered many babies in her day. Although born in America, she still had the faint Irish brogue of her parents. She had learned the practice of midwifery from her mother, however about twenty years ago the state had decided to regulate it. She grumbled to her clients about having to take classes to learn what she had been doing for over twenty years. She claimed that she could have taught the classes herself.

From her descriptions, it occurred to Phoebe that she must have driven her instructors crazy as she corrected their book knowledge with her practical experience. But it was her practical experience that had convinced Phoebe that she was the right choice for her. And she reminded her of old Mrs. Pengally in the village. Like Mrs. Pengally, she seemed to be kind but firm.

Mrs. Clancy was unconcerned by the number of people who would be present throughout the labor and birth, as long as no one was going to faint. She and Hal had nearly finished their childbirth classes, which had mostly consisted of him learning about the process and how to help her breath correctly. All of the other women in the class were going to have their babies in hospital. They spent a great deal of time talking about the various options for anesthesia. They were shocked by the idea that she wanted to give birth the old-fashioned way.

"Do you know how much that it's going to hurt?" asked one young woman.

"Of course," she had replied. "I've attended a few home births in my day."

"What if something goes wrong?" asked another.

"That's what the midwife is for," she answered. "We even have an obstetric nurse. As long as I am having a healthy pregnancy, it's unlikely that anything will go wrong."

It was only then that she had realized that these young women were actually afraid of childbirth. She supposed that that was what happened when you were brought up to believe that children had to be born in hospital or they wouldn't be safe. Once again, it was brought home to her that outside the village people viewed pregnancy as if it were an illness. In fact, their husbands were viewed as brave because they were willing to be present in the delivery room.

When they discussed it together, Trelawney shared her amusement, while Emmeline shared their discomfort. It was a rather new situation for them all. Emmeline was concerned about the competence of the midwife until she met Mrs. Clancy. Two sentences out of her mouth and she pronounced her as much of an old dragon as Mrs. Pengally. Mrs. Clancy meanwhile took her measure and declared that she would "permit" her to be present at the birth.

Then, she had the oddest fancy of all. She wanted the children's grandfather, Tom Williams, also to be present. And she wanted him to be godfather to the child, a duty he declared that he was honored to accept. Tom was surprised when she asked him, but not unwilling. He and Bernice had planned to come once she went into labor anyway. Since Butch and Prudence would be down at their other grandparents' home, it worked out nicely. Rob would be there to entertain Butch and Bernice would be there for Prudence.

And thankfully, they had not heard a word from Aunt Henrietta in quite some time. Of course she was now very busy with all the business that the events of a few weeks ago had generated. Three of her most dire premonitions had nearly come to pass. But since they had not, she was taking credit for giving the warning that had saved them all from disaster.

Hal commented wryly that they had also saved them from her presence. He would gladly see her making all the money that she wanted if it kept her out of their hair. Phoebe doubted that that was possible but didn't want to dash his hopes. With Auntie there was always another agenda. She was sure that in time it would present itself. She just hoped that it would be later rather than sooner.

They were now nearing the mid-point of August and a comfortable lassitude seemed to have fallen over her. The calm before the storm, her mother-in-law Catherine called it. Whatever it was, it was pleasant. As she had been warned, the baby was moving less as she ran out of room when she grew larger.

She had been told by her Auntie Anna, Emmeline's Mum, in a letter, that she would know that the birth was imminent before the pains even started. On the morning of Saturday, August 12, she knew that things were about to start happening.

She calmly got up and got Butch and Prudence off to their activities. When Hal returned from dropping Prudence off at her Saturday dance program and Butch had walked up to Rob's so that he could drive him to baseball practice, she told Hal that it was time to call Mrs. Clancy and the nurse, Mrs. Morgan.

"How far apart are the pains?" he asked.

"There aren't any pains yet," she said smiling.

"Then how do you . . . .?" he started, then paused. "Oh, never mind, I'll make all the necessary phone calls."

She shook her head fondly as he walked away. Wasn't he ever going to learn? But perhaps that wasn't fair. As that same aunt had warned, her senses and connections to the universal consciousness had dulled as she became more focused on the life within. This ability to know that the child would soon be with them was the first hint of their reawakening. It would appear that her husband had been lulled into a false sense of equilibrium and forgotten that her loss of prescience was only temporary.

Then she felt the first cramp, because that was what the labor pains kind of felt like, at least in the beginning. But it was only the first. And she knew that she still had a long way to go before the child within became the child without. She smiled softly to herself. Soon, she thought, very soon, I will be holding this most precious gift from God in my arms.

**The Slip Up**

Liam Figalilly had always prided himself on his devotion to family. Especially since Uncle Owen had passed and he would be _paterfamilias _after Dad. He had always known that this was probably his fate. After all these years Auntie Meg had only given birth to the two girls. Lovely girls they were too, the both of them, but nevertheless girls. But now he had to take his duty all the more seriously. To him it meant more than just giving up his days of roaming and settling down in the village to marry. First, he had more important things to attend to.

No one was going to harm any member of his family and not have to answer to him for it. Especially if the injured party was their own dear Trelawney Rose, the sweetest, most trusting soul that he had ever known. And so for the past year, he had been suffering the company of that fool Cholmondeley Featherstonehaugh so that he could keep an eye on him. He was bound and determined to keep him away from the little one, not to mention his other cousin, Phoebe, now just about ready to give birth.

After Aunts Justine and Agatha had told them of his betrayal, he set out to find the bloody bastard. It wasn't difficult since his own family was very careful to keep tabs on those that roam whenever they could. He caught up with him in Tanzania, convinced him that it was a coincidence that they had met, and then gone on safari with him. It wasn't too bad if he could keep his mind off of why he was there, which of course he had to. And it helped that he had always wanted to go on safari.

And so after their time in Africa, during which he had done his best to build up his trust and ingratiate himself to him, they decided to go east and ended up in Thailand for a bit. Bangkok was kind of a funny place, not at all what he had expected, but then he really hadn't expected to see Yul Brenner walking down the street anyway.

Then it was off to the outback, a bloody hot place, if you were to ask him. But Cholmondeley wanted to go there, so there they went. After they had seen what they had wanted of mainland Australia they went south to Tasmania. But that was where his luck ran out. Who showed up out of the blue, but John Trelawney?

He had little or no respect for Johnny after his role in the effort to separate young Trelawney Rose from her Phoebe. Grandfather James was getting on in years and certainly losing his mind if he thought that it was right to take the little one away from her sister, bound by a sacred vow to her parents to raise her, such as she was.

The whole mess had been a disaster from start to finish. And it was a good thing that Phoebe had married herself to a pair of rich brother-in-laws. Private jets and hotel suites, indeed. But they spared no expense in keeping little Trelawney Rose with her sister all legal and proper. He was glad to know that they appreciated family as much as any Figalilly would. She may have married an outsider, but good, old Phoebe had married smart. You had to give her credit for that.

Lew had told him about the custody fight and how hard it had been on poor Phoebe, being pregnant and all. The whole case was pure nonsense from start to finish. Legally, the Trelawneys didn't have a leg to stand on. At the time he had thought that, well, _maybe _Johnny was just following Grandfather's orders. After all, Grandfather _was _his _paterfamilias. _But this latest episode was forcing him to rethink his previous conclusions about the lad.

Because now it seemed that Johnny had _forgotten _that he was a Trelawney. Why, even the Trelawneys were as put out as the Figalillys by Cholmondeley's behavior. But of course with a mother like Auntie Clara, it was no surprise that he would come down on the side of the Featherstonehaughs in any matter. But this was too much. The only way they had out of it was to say that the girl lied. It was foolish notion. Everyone who had ever met her knew that young Trelawney Rose never lied. It was as if she weren't capable or something.

So here they both are, him and Cholmondeley, larking about in Tasmania when Johnny shows up. The next thing he knows the both of them have disappeared. He got in touch with Dad right away, but he didn't know anything about it. Nor did anyone else in the village know, as far as he could tell. Once he realized that he had given him the slip there was only one thing for it. He had to go to America to stay by Trelawney Rose there. He couldn't be sure of why. He just knew that he had to do it.

Fortunately, Emmeline was with Phoebe right now. He could count on Em to take care of things until he got there. She was his favorite sister. Two peas in a pod, Mum had always called them. First to get into trouble and first to get out was what she always said. Him being the oldest and her, the youngest, you would have thought that the age difference would have been too great for them to be so close. But they were too much alike not to be the best of chums.

Of course he loved his other two sisters, but Christabel was too homely and Sylvia too good for his own comfort. Phoebe of course was both of those things, homely and good, but she was more tolerable, being a cousin and all. It was terribly amusing that she and Em were such good friends. You would have thought that Em was the elder, the way that she took care of Phoebe these days. And then there was little Trelawney Rose, so sweet and simple that she almost begged for protection.

Emmeline did not like children as a rule, but Trelawney Rose was different. Perhaps it was because she had seen her born. And she had made a promise of her own to Auntie Meg that if anything ever happened to them that the child was to be Phoebe's to raise. Figalillys took such things seriously, even if Trelawneys didn't. But that wasn't entirely fair. His own Mum was a Trelawney and not above doing a bit of scheming herself to fulfill her own promise to Auntie Meg.

But more likely it was because you could never put one over on the little one. She was just too bloody smart. Emmeline always appreciated a quick mind, she did. The only exception to that rule was that idiot Cholmondeley. He had obviously fooled her and then made her feel at fault.

When Aunt Justine had laid out the whole story for them, the men were angry and the women were crying. She spared no bit of pity for the fool, tough old goat that she was. If Cholmondeley himself had been present, he surely would have been lynched that night. And he would have led the mob himself.

But then, Auntie Agatha had explained that she was too young to understand what had happened. The innocent child only knew that it was wrong. Yet it had only been a matter of time before she understood what such things were about. And then it was almost too much for the poor girl to bear. Especially since the devil convinced her that she had betrayed her beloved sister. She was the one person in the world that she lived for more than anyone.

He was looking forward to meeting Phoebe's Professor. He wanted to shake his hand himself and thank him for protecting the little one from the bloody unicorn. Not to mention saving their Phoebe from marrying him. Auntie Agatha had even said that he would kill the bastard if he ever came within ten feet of the girls again.

Now that was a man he could respect, a man after his own heart. He knew what needed doing and was ready to do it. He'd even said that they could put him in jail for a million years. Nobody would ever lay a hand on those two girls if he had anything to say about it.

Of course he would have taken care it himself if his Mum and sisters hadn't been begging him not to. Dad himself had not had much to say about it. Nor did Jimmy and Lew. But then, they were the type that wouldn't take such action themselves. However they would look the other way from it if they had to.

And he had had more than one perfect opportunity. If you go to places such as Tanzania, Thailand, or even the outback, you knew that you were taking your life into your own hands. It would have been very easy for him to make him disappear without a trace. How many men had that happened to? But even Em had gone soft on that. Now look where it had gotten them.

He could keep his eye on him as long as Cholmendeley didn't know that his violation of the child had been discovered. It was critical that he conceal his own intentions. And who even knew what he would do if he found out that he was a wanted man? Not by the police mind you, but by the Figalillys who, to a man, had sworn revenge. It would go better for him if the police were to find him first. Statute of limitations, my arse! What has our legal system today come to?

But Johnny sure as hell knew all about it. He had heard the story with everyone else. Without a doubt he had told Cholmendeley that they knew, and what he himself was about, suddenly being his best friend and all. Who knew what would happen now? Had they gone off to hide so that no one would find them? They couldn't have gone back to the village. Grandfather would surely strangle him with his bare hands if he found him. Would they dare to show up in California? If they did he would make sure that they would be sorry.

He had told Sylvia that he was on the way and she had promised to give Em the news. Before he had boarded his last connection to LAX, Em had sent word that Phoebe was in labor. He was determined to get there in time for the baby. Now it wasn't just Cholmondeley he had to worry about but that crackpot Aunt Henrietta. Auntie was bound and determined to cause trouble for the little one, too stupid as usual to realize that she might hurt Phoebe and the baby as well.

She had them all fooled now, thinking that it was about the money. But that one was crazy like a fox. She had promised Grandfather that she send his Trelawney Rose back to him and send her she would, if she could. If she could make a few extra pounds along the way, all the better for her. He was planning to make sure that she couldn't take the little one away, especially with suspicious characters possibly lurking about.

His own best guess was that while everyone was making a fuss over the baby, she would try to pull some trick or another to get the little one in a vulnerable position of some sort. He knew that perhaps even good Catherine could be distracted by the entrance of another grandbaby into the world.

And much as he trusted Em to watch over her, it was her goddaughter who would matter most at that time. Auntie knew a golden opportunity when she saw it. And he knew that the situation needed someone who wouldn't take his eyes off the girl. And that someone was himself.

And so Liam brooded all that long way over the Pacific, until he could reach his cousins and stand guard over them. He had let them down once by permitting that scoundrel Cholmondeley to give him the slip. He did not plan to do it again.

**Preparations**

Because it was nearly mid-August, Catherine was not at all surprised when her son called to tell her that Phoebe had asked for the midwife and nurse. She also had her own plans to make. She needed to call Tom and Bernice so that they could be in town for the birth. Butch and Prudence would also stay at her house until the baby was born. Trelawney and Emmeline would be down at Phoebe's with her. Tom would be present for the birth, but Bernice would stay with Prudence. Initially, Prudence had wanted to there also.

"No!" chorused all of the adults in the room when she asked. The little girl looked downcast.

But Trelawney had looked at her sympathetically and put her arm around her.

"When I was your age," she explained. "I wasn't allowed to attend any home births. Besides, you really don't want to see Phoebe in all that pain, do you?"

"No," said Prudence. "But maybe I could make her feel better."

"That's the Professor's job," replied Trelawney with a twinkle in her eye. "Whether he likes it or not."

Catherine had watched as her son grimaced. She knew that he had been very content to pace out in the waiting room for the births of his other three children. He then would wait for the doctor to come out with the news of either "Its a boy!" or "Its a girl!" But he had also then not seen them until they were in the nursery, where looking through the glass, he could see "his" as a nurse held him or her up. He would visit his wife as she lay recovering from the "twilight sleep" that was supposed to dull the pain.

She could attest to the ineffectiveness of that method of anesthesia. After Bob, she had not even bothered. Today, the preferred option was an "epidural," that worked as a spinal block so that the mother could remain awake. The problem was that like twilight sleep it wasn't entirely painless and it extended the time of the labor since the mother couldn't push as hard. Thus, the method was not entirely risk free.

She knew that Phoebe was probably right that labor went faster if a mother could feel the pain and had the ability to push harder. She also knew from her own experience that it hurt like hell. But it was her choice and she wanted no part of a hospital birth that would "ration" the time that she had with her child for the first couple of days.

While Hal would be there to support his wife, no doubt she would end up supporting him. Trelawney would very likely play the role of cheerleader for her sister. Who knew what roles Tom and Emmeline would play? They were to be the godparents. But if Phoebe wanted them and the midwife agreed then it was certainly not her place to argue.

Despite the fact that she had given birth three times herself, she had never attended a home birth. She knew that once the baby was finally out that there would be tears and kisses and hugs. Phoebe would be able to hold her child immediately and the midwife had told Hal that he could cut the umbilical cord (if he was still standing). Despite her private reservations, she knew that this was going to be a very sweet moment in all of their lives.

When she got to the house, she discovered Phoebe getting things ready for the younger children to go up to their house. Hal was already pacing the living room floor. Since she didn't want any help, Catherine decided that she might as well start tending to her son.

"Do you really think that it's good that she's running around like that?" he asked her.

"I thought that you said that she hadn't felt any pains yet," she replied.

"Well now she has," he said. "I think that she should just settle down and wait."

"Why?" Catherine asked. "I had plenty to do organizing things before I went to the hospital for you. I had a lot to great ready for the babysitter who was going to watch Bob and Ben while I was gone. Your father was at work at the time and came home when I was ready to go."

"Well," he said. "This is Phoebe's first child."

"So tell me, son," she said in amusement. "Where were you when Helen went into labor with each of the three children?"

"At work" he admitted. "Okay, I see what you mean. I really don't know what she did when she first went into labor. Bernice and Tom were here. Bernice stayed with the kids after Hal was born and Tom drove Helen to the hospital."

"And," she couldn't help adding. "I believe that you did not arrive at the hospital until _after _Prudence was born. You were in a seminar, weren't you?"

Hal looked at her sheepishly. Well, son, she thought, since you're on sabbatical there's no getting out of it now. But she felt sympathetic when she saw that he was genuinely fretting over something.

"Okay, Hal," she said. "Out with it. What's really eating you?"

"I'm scared," he said. "I'm afraid that I won't be able to handle it when I see her in pain. I can't get the picture of Helen in the last stages of her illness out of my head. The pain was so bad that they couldn't give her anything for it. Straight morphine didn't even work."

"Hal," she said gently. "This is not the same kind of pain."

"That's what Phoebe said," he replied.

Catherine sat back, deep in thought. She had forgotten what a devastating experience that Helen's death had been for him. He had been with her until the very end. He had held her hand until the doctor finally told him that she was at peace. He had never talked about it with her, or anyone else that she knew of. But she now understood his fears. He was still haunted by the image of his dying wife.

"Hal," she said softly. "I know that you were devoted to Helen until the end. And I know that the only end to her suffering came when she passed from this world to the next. But this is essentially a reverse of that experience. You will be witnessing the passage of your daughter into this life. And you know that she has been alive and growing for all these months."

Hal still looked troubled.

"Yes, Phoebe will be in pain," she admitted. "I know that better than you son. But when it's over she will be holding a new life in her arms. It's that life that you both created nine months ago. She wants you there to share that moment with her. It's not just about holding her hand through a painful labor. It's about experiencing the miracle of life together as a couple."

Hal looked at her and she could see that she had finally gotten through to him. It was not only Phoebe who would hold her newborn child. He would cut the umbilical cord and then be able to present her with the most precious gift that any man could give his wife: the full expression of their love for one another through the creation of a new life.

Now that she had settled her son, she decided that it was time to settle her daughter-in-law. She knew that all the activity was a cover for her own feelings of trepidation. She had already met Mrs. Clancy and she knew that if she came in while Phoebe was bustling about then there would probably be hell to pay.

Phoebe tried to cover her anxiety with casual chatter, but Catherine wasn't fooled.

"If you've already called the midwife, dear," she said calmly. "It means that it is time to settle down and get in bed before she gets here. Now Hal tells me that you've already had a few pains."

Phoebe stopped and nodded. Before she knew it, Catherine had the weeping girl in her arms.

"There. there," she said. "It will be alright. This is no time to get cold feet."

"Catherine, I'm scared," she admitted. "What if something goes wrong? What if I've made the wrong decision?"

"There's still time to go to the hospital," she replied. "Do you feel as though something is wrong?"

Phoebe shook her, but then nodded.

"What is it, dear?"

"I want my Mum and my Papa," she said sadly. "They should be here too."

"They are here," she answered gently. "You know that they've always been with you. They wouldn't leave you at a time like this. Just ask Trelawney when she gets here. Little Margaret Mary will be born as her grandparents watch from heaven. From what Hal tells me, you've been dreaming of this child for over a year. She's almost here."

Phoebe nodded and allowed Catherine to take her upstairs. Together they prepared the bed and everything else the way that Mrs. Clancy wanted. Then she helped her dress in the hospital gown and get into bed.

"Do you remember the last time I helped you to get dressed?" she asked, and then answered her own question.

"I helped you to put on your wedding dress for the blessing a little over ten months ago."

Phoebe gave her a little smile and then a shadow crossed her face. Indeed the pains had begun. As Catherine helped her to get comfortable, she could hear Mrs. Clancy's authoritative voice from below.

"What did I tell you about getting that enormous, hairy creature out of the house until after the birth?" she demanded.

"Oh, dear," said Phoebe. "We forgot to bring Waldo up to your place."

"Don't worry," Catherine replied. "I'm sure that Hal will do it right away."

They could hear the very determined footsteps making their way up the staircase.

"I do believe that we are about to lose all control of our lives to that woman until the child is here," she said.

The waiting time had begun.

**The Waiting**

As Hal was leaving with Waldo, Emmeline was entering. She followed the midwife up the stairs. The first thing that Mrs. Clancy did when she had set down her bag and organized herself, was to check on the baby's heartbeat.

"Good and strong!" she declared approvingly.

Then she poked and prodded as she checked the position.

"Just right," she said. "I don't believe that she's too big. It'll make it easier for her to pass through the birth canal."

"How do you know it's a girl?" asked Catherine.

"Why the way that she's been carrying her of course," she replied as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "You'll see. I'm never wrong."

But Emmeline, just as the rest of them, already knew that it was going to be a girl. Trelawney had told them months ago. Last of all she checked to see how far she was dilated. For the first time she shook her head.

"Still closed up tight," she said. "That's what happens with a first child. But you don't want to take any chances once you feel the pains. This could be a long wait."

Emmeline sighed. That had been what she was afraid of. However, there was no indication yet of how long the _active _labor might last. And besides, the full complement of observers was not present yet. At the moment, only she and Catherine were there. Hal hadn't returned from bringing the dog, Trelawney was at her theatre program, and Tom was still on his way. The nurse hadn't even gotten there yet, although she was due any minute.

As she sat down to wait, Hal came in. She looked over as he sat down beside Phoebe. Until now, he had looked rather green each time someone mentioned his presence at the birth. But now he looked calm and much more at peace. He brushed back Phoebe's hair from her forehead and gently kissed it. They were murmuring softly to one another. As she looked into his eyes, Phoebe's deep emotional attachment to this man was evident. And he clearly adored her.

She thought of her own role in the eventual and inevitable consummation of this love. First she had been the spoiler. She knew of Phoebe's previous commitment and had done everything that she could to encourage her to fulfill her duty to her family and her parents' wishes. But Trelawney and her then seemingly irrational hatred of Cholmondeley had foiled her.

After that she had become an ally, helping the lovers to elope so that Phoebe would not have to endure a large family wedding without her parents at her side. She had taken quite a bit of heat from the family for abetting in that little scheme. She had also been in hot water for helping the Everetts to keep custody of the little one. But then, one by one, members of the family had visited and realized that this was truly a love for the ages, and that this was a fated child.

Finally, her father had realized that this child was to have a most special destiny and that Phoebe's marriage had actually taken place at the proper time, though not in accordance with family tradition. He had become reconciled to it and the fact that Trelawney must remain with her sister. Still, she was nearly knocked off her feet when she found out that Lewis had come to America to secure Rob and Catherine's custody of the child.

But now they all knew that Trelawney was very much needed to keep the baby safe. The child might be a little fey, but she had a very strong bond with the universal consciousness. She was innocent, but no fool. She was pure goodness, but not weak. In her own time here, during the past few weeks, she had had the time to fully consider the sharp contrast between the sensitive young girl and the jaded old charlatan, known to everyone as Princess Lotus Flower.

No one else seemed to have noticed that both of them were prone to spells of almost unconscious speech and behavior. Trelawney would snap in and out of a dreamlike state during which she spoke quaintly through her medieval archetypes, with a highly accurate prescience. While there might be limits to her foresight, she never equivocated or filled in the blanks with her own interpretations. At these times, her aura was the rich purple color of deep spirituality.

On the other hand, Aunt Henrietta's spells had a more nightmarish quality to them. Her aura was the sickly mustard color of anger in the cosmos. Unlike Trelawney, she did not remember these states when she snapped back to reality. And when told what she had foretold, she was very quick to embellish what she had said to manipulate the words to her own agenda. Whatever that was these days. She seemed to have given up on frightening Trelawney into going home and was now focused on making money.

If the good angels spoke through Trelawney, it was the bad that spoke through Aunt Henrietta. It seemed that only Trelawney was able to defeat them. Her motives were pure. She only spoke the truth. Auntie's motives were never what they seemed to be with one exception. She was out to make a penny or a pound any way that she could.

Like Catherine, she had not been at all surprised when Phoebe had asked for the midwife, only for a different reason. She was as certain as she could be that Maisie would be born tomorrow night as "the bright lights were falling from the sky." It would be August 13, the height of the annual Perseids meteor shower. She wondered what the danger was for those that waited, but she was convinced that Trelawney once again would protect them.

One thing that she had succeeded in hiding from the others, even Trelawney who was the most likely to figure out these things, was that Liam was on his way to California. He had lost track of Cholmondeley in Tasmania at this most inopportune time and she feared that whatever cosmic mischief maker was out to disrupt Maisie's birth, he was up to his old tricks again. But having lost track of Cholmondeley, Liam was now on his way to protect Trelawney in person. She could only hope that things wouldn't backfire on him and his hot temper.

It was Sylvia who passed this bit of information onto her. If she could disengage herself from her present situation, Syl would be on her way here as well. But she was tied up with other matters, as were Lew and Jimmy. There was no way for them to even think of coming. It was a busy time in the business, so Dad couldn't come. And Mum couldn't leave Christabel, who was seven months pregnant herself.

Of course they weren't the only family, but wherever Aunts Agatha and Justine were, they could not be reached. For whatever reason, no one else in the family was inclined or able to come. That was quite peculiar. She hoped that there wasn't something that they knew that had frightened them off.

She was expecting Liam to arrive tomorrow morning. Once the nurse showed up and everyone here was more settled, she would go back up to the house and explain everything to Rob. Then they would do their best to keep the news from Phoebe and the Professor, not to mention Trelawney. She knew that the minute that Trelawney heard that Phoebe was in labor, nothing would pry her from her side. The last thing that Phoebe needed to worry about was her ex-betrothed.

If the Professor discovered the disappearance, then they would have two hot-headed tempers to deal with, Liam's and the Professor's. She would definitely need Sylvia's help then. There was no way that she could juggle so many things on her own.

She had hoped that they would be able to keep the news of Phoebe's labor from Aunt Henrietta until after the birth of the child, but Mrs. Fowler had seen the activity surrounding the house and guessed its source. She had caught her in the yard as she was on her way into the house fairly bursting to confirm the news.

Then she bolted, no doubt on her way to inform the "Princess." That woman is one of the biggest bloody fools that I've ever met, she thought. If Francine were not so protective of Trelawney, not to mention her best friend, she would have done a little manipulating of her own to make sure that she moved away, as far away as possible.

Whatever else happened around them, she could now see the value of having both the good queen and the good king present. Each, she knew would fight for the protection of the lovely lady. And she had no doubt that Mrs. Clancy would suffer no unwanted guests in her delivery room. She would put her money on the old dragon over the evil witch any day of the week.

For all her gruff manner, the midwife was exceedingly gentle with Phoebe. And that was what mattered to her. It had been the same with Mrs. Pengally, God rest her soul. They heard a knock on the door downstairs and Catherine went to answer it.

"Well, hello to everyone!" cried a cheerful voice as Mrs. Morgan, the obstetric nurse, entered the room. "So, I understand that we're all here to get a baby born."

"Yes, we are, Mrs. Morgan," responded Mrs. Clancy in the same cheerful tone. "But it won't be for a while yet, so sit down and make yourself to home."

Mrs. Morgan smiled and walked over to Phoebe.

"How are you feeling, dear?" she asked kindly.

"I've felt better," replied Phoebe.

"Well, I'm afraid that you'll feel worse before this is over, but just think!" she declared. "At the end of it all, you'll be holding your own sweet baby in your arms. You'll want to keep that in mind as you're working to push the little tyke out."

Phoebe smiled wanly. Emmeline knew that more than anything else she wanted that moment to come. But Phoebe had also been present for home births and knew that this could be the beginning of a very long wait. The day was warm and the second floor of the house of course was hotter than the rest. After taking a quick survey of the situation, Mrs. Morgan had a suggestion.

"Why don't you put on your robe and go downstairs for a while. If we were in a hospital, you would certainly be encouraged to get up and walk around a bit," she said. "And sometimes it helps move things along."

Fortunately, Mrs. Clancy agreed.

"Good idea," she added. "And sometimes it helps to pass the time more quickly if you're up and about. And there's no extra benefit in lying in bed all day. Once you need to be here, trust me, you will know it."

Emmeline helped Phoebe out of bed and they went downstairs with Hal and Catherine for a cup of tea. It was also nearly lunchtime, so they all, even Phoebe, had a bite to eat. At last they settled in the living room where the women started to read. Hal went into his study to try to work, but left the folding doors open. After a while, Emmeline noticed that Phoebe had fallen asleep. She took the book out of her hands so that she could rest more comfortably.

"How much longer do you think?" she asked Catherine in a soft voice.

"No time soon from what I can see," she answered in the same hushed tones. "These initial pains could go on for a while before they come frequently enough to time. If she can sleep like that, I am pretty sure that nothing is likely to happen until after midnight."

"Well," said Emmeline. "We just won't say anything about that to her, or him."

She gestured towards Hal in the study. He had some papers in front of him, but seemed to be staring off into space. Catherine looked over her shoulder and nodded.

"This is a new experience for him," she explained. "The last three times he was at work and didn't arrive at the hospital until right before the boys were born, and in the case of Prudence he didn't come until after."

"Was he giving a lecture?" asked Emmeline, amused.

"Good guess. No, he was leading a seminar," replied Catherine with a smile. "But Helen was still too groggy to notice and she didn't even care when he apologized to her. I suppose that it really didn't make a difference to her whether he was at work or pacing out in the waiting room. As long as he was there when she woke up and wanted him."

"That's a far cry from how things are done back at home," she said. "No husband would be anywhere other than at his wife's side throughout the labor and birth. The midwife would be in control of the house and there would be other family members hanging around. That's just the way it is."

"What if there is problem?" asked Catherine.

"Well there is a doctor of course, with his own dispensary there," she said. "When Trelawney was born, Phoebe had to literally run out in the middle of the night to get him. Mrs. Pengally was afraid because things were taking so long and Auntie Meg was getting too tired to push."

"What did he do?" asked Catheime curiously.

"Not much really," admitted Emmeline. "Trelawney took her own sweet time about coming, but in the end she came out easy as pie. The doctor had been a precaution. A good midwife knows when the birth may be beyond her skills. She won't take any chances with the life of the child or the mother."

Catherine looked thoughtful.

"So then really there's not much to worry about," she said.

"Not unless you want to take one of Auntie's foolish prophecies seriously," she replied. "Look, since nothing is likely to happen any time this afternoon, I'd like to go back up to your place for a while. The little one will be coming home fairly soon and it will be all I can do to keep her from rushing in here and waking up poor Phoebe."

"Don't worry about it," answered Catherine with a smile, "We'll take care of her."

She gestured into the study where now Hal seemed to be pretending to read a book. Emmeline smiled and made her way out. She also needed to talk to Rob about Liam. Things were certainly getting complicated. However in a few hours, things were about to get more complicated than even she had anticipated.

_To be continued . . . _


	3. Chapter 3

**The Waiting Time 3**

**The Evil Witch Returns**

Rob was puttering around in his workshop when Emmeline came back to the house. There really wasn't much for him to do at all except wait for the kids to come home and keep them happy for the duration once they did get home. Hopefully "the duration" wouldn't last too long for Phoebe's sake.

Okay, well, for his sake also. Once the kids knew that things had gotten started, they would be driving him crazy. In the meantime, he had contacted the car pool drivers for the day to let them know that that the kids should be dropped off at his house. No doubt about it, Mrs. Clancy would be highly displeased if Butch and Prudence came running in.

After the scene over Waldo this morning they didn't want to take any more chances. They had forgotten to bring him up here before she got there, so Hal brought him after she got there, immediately. It was the first taste that they had had of her displeasure when her instructions were not carried out to the letter. Presently, he was with Elspeth in the backyard, still sulking a little from what he could tell. He was grateful that Bernice would soon be there to entertain Prudence. It would keep her and Butch from getting on each other's nerves.

And he didn't expect to see much of Trelawney. No doubt she would be flying down to Hal's house the minute that she knew that Phoebe's pains had started. Who knew how Elspeth would respond to that? In all likelihood, they'd have two sulking dogs on their hands. Catherine had called a while ago to let him know that it would be a long wait before anything happened. He looked up as Emmeline entered the workshop.

"Say, Rob," said Emmeline in her crisp British accent that usually meant business. "May I have a word with you?"

"Sure," replied Rob mildly. "I'm not doing much."

"It looks like you're up to some project," she commented, looking over his shoulder.

"I'm always up to some project," he answered. "This is a cabinet for tea set that Sylvia promised that someone would bring out to Trelawney the next time they came."

"Oh," said Emmeline. "I guess that that was why Dad wanted me to stop off at the village on my way here. But I was concerned because Prudence had sent the message after being quiet for six months."

"So you rushed here," finished Rob. "Not a problem. She's not likely to use it much anyway, especially with her girlfriends. I think that it has sentimental value more anything else. It was Phoebe's and before that, her Mum's."

"That's Trelawney," she replied. "I'm sure that she'll appreciate the cabinet. She can look at the tea set, even if she doesn't use it."

"Oh, I'm sure that she and Prudence will occasionally use it," said Rob with a smile. "I think that she is almost as excited as Trelawney is to get it. But, to borrow a line from Tom Williams, I don't think that you came here to discuss tea sets."

"I could only wish," she said changing her demeanor. "I'm afraid that things are stirring up again. Liam has lost track of Cholmondeley. So he's on his way here."

"Cholmondeley or Liam?"

Emmeline rolled her eyes impatiently. "Liam, of course."

"When do I have to be at LAX?" he asked with a sigh.

"The flight's due in tomorrow morning at nine," she replied.

"Do you think that you'll be able to come with me?" he asked. "I don't think that you will view it as a hardship if you miss church. And I have no idea of what he looks like."

"Well, church or no church," she said. "That depends on how things are going with the mum-to-be. But Liam looks pretty much like Lew only taller, tanner, a bit longer hair. Lew is the button-down pinstripe type. Liam is more outdoorsy."

"I'll find him on my own if I have to," he said. "I wouldn't want to upset Phoebe any more than she'll be when she finds out that he had to come."

Emmeline was silent.

"You're not going to tell her."

"No, nor Trelawney, at least not until the baby's here," she replied. "Once she gets home and finds out that the pains have started there will no keeping her away from her sister. It's just as well. If she knew that Liam was here, she might panic and do something foolish. The only security that she's had for the past year is that he's been standing watch over him, Phoebe as well. There were nightmares for both of them before they knew that Liam had him under surveillance, so to speak."

"So we'll keep Liam here," he said. "And who else can know?"

"Catherine, Tom, and the Professor, no," she replied. "If any of them know down at the house, then Trelawney will be sure to discern it from their minds. I don't have that problem. I know how to disguise my thoughts from her. Bernice may know, as well as Butch and Prudence. They'll really have to know since he'll be staying here. But it's best if the neighbors don't find out. It's another reason to keep him up here and out of sight."

"Neighbors, meaning Mrs. Fowler, I'm guessing."

"Exactly," she said. "It's bad enough that she's figured out that Phoebe's in labor. I tremble to think what Auntie will have to say about that."

"With any luck, we won't know," he said. "But Prudence is likely to be a problem if she goes to church tomorrow. She's bound to tell everyone that she knows and a few that she doesn't that not only is her Mommy in labor, but that a new Figalilly cousin has arrived on the scene."

"Well then, she won't go to church," she answered. "I'm sure that Bernice will find something for them to do, out of town if you're understanding me."

"I can assure you that she will be only too happy to cooperate. And I'm sure that Prudence will give up a day with her church friends if it means individual time with Nana. Butch won't be a problem at least," he continued. "All I have to tell him is that we want to protect his Mom's privacy and he'll be quiet."

"It's not Butch who's worrying me, or Prudence," she said.

"Ah, yes. I would imagine that Liam is going to have a hard time cooling his heels once he gets here," he added. "I understand that in addition to being a man of action, he has a pretty hot temper."

"When he gets going, he makes the Professor look like a yoga instructor," she replied. "Right now I'm sure that he's mad at himself because he's lost track of Cholmondeley. But he's also mad at John Trelawney for tipping him off and helping him to escape. Not to mention, he's been seething with rage at Cholmondeley himself for over a year now. No one knows where either of one of them are. All around it's a recipe for disaster if the three of them were to meet up again."

"You don't think that they're headed to California?" he asked. "What business does either of them have here? Especially with Phoebe about to give birth to another man's child."

"You keep forgetting, Rob," she said patiently. "It's not about Phoebe anymore. It's about Trelawney. Cholmondeley didn't know that she had told his secret. No doubt Johnny's told him and now they're up to some mischief. He'll not take it lightly you know. He is now in a position where he can never return to the village, unless she can be proven wrong, which she can't. Things could get very sticky. Cholmondeley is probably out for revenge and Johnny is probably looking to get back in Grandfather's good graces."

Rob looked at her questioningly. This made no sense whatsoever.

"But here's the problem, see," she continued. "Johnny is too obtuse to know what Cholmondeley is really all about. And I can guarantee you that it's not about getting Trelawney anywhere safely, let alone to Grandfather. It's a typical example of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing. And the little one is caught in the middle."

"With things in such a jumble is there any way that we can keep her safe?" he asked.

"She's safest with Phoebe and Catherine right now," explained Emmelne. "And that bloody dragon of a midwife that Phoebe's found herself is not letting anyone into that bedroom that she doesn't want there while she's in charge."

"How much do you think that Aunt Henrietta knows about Cholmondeley being out of Liam's sight?" he asked.

Emmeline was deep in thought. Rob could almost see the wheels turning in her head. He knew her well enough to even guess what she was thinking. Aunt Henrietta would know that Phoebe was in labor. And no doubt about it, someone of the Trelawneys would have sent her a message that Cholmondeley was out there somewhere with John.

That would no doubt confuse her even more than usual. Who could even imagine how that might cross her wires? Mrs. Fowler was either with her now or had been earlier. Things did not look good. She looked up at Rob with concern in her eyes. His own eyes reflected her worry.

"I'm going to call Mrs. Duncan at the community theatre, and then Lois," he said, deciding that he had to take some kind of action of his own. "Mrs. Fowler is due to pick her up with Francine in an hour. I'll tell Faith that Trelawney may not leave the theatre with anyone other than Lois Lenihan. And that Mike needs to stay by her side until she gets there."

Emmeline nodded.

"Have her brought straight to Phoebe's," she said. "Once she's there we won't have to worry. As I said before, she won't leave her sister's bedside until the baby's here. And remember, her safety is dependent on staying close by the good queen."

Rob nodded and made his calls. Even without a full explanation of why, Mrs. Duncan was only too happy to keep her there and understood the necessity of Mike staying with her. Lois assured him that she would pick them up and that Mike would even escort her to the door of the house.

When she asked her what she was supposed to tell her about the change in chauffeurs and the added security he replied, "Just tell her that Auntie's up to no good."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"So you know about that," she said, implying that there were some new premonitions on the horizon.

"No, we just guessed based on what we already knew about other family members," he said. "We trust you, but we need to play our cards very close to the vest right now. Even some of the family members don't know the full story."

"Oh." Her voice sounded tentative.

"Okay, Lois," he said. "What have you heard?"

Emmeline looked up when she heard his tone of voice. She knew as well as he did that nothing happened in town that Lois didn't hear about. The only question was what kind of crazy direction the premonitions were taking now.

"As you know by now," Lois told Rob. "There isn't anything that Mrs. Fowler knows that the Princess doesn't. She's her best source of information on your family."

"Yes, we know that," he said. "And Emmeline has told me that she figured out that Phoebe is in labor."

"Yes, well, Gertie Gibbons was 'consulting with the other side' this morning, when Mrs. Fowler rushed into the session with the news," she replied. "The minute that she heard it, the Princess went into one of her deep trances."

Oh, great, thought Rob. Now half the town is going to know about all this nonsense. He wondered if Bob's offer of security guards was still open.

"Do you want to know what she said?" asked Lois, breaking into his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Lois," he said. "Yes, of course I do. But first, I want Emmeline to get on another extension so that she can hear too."

"Sounds fine," she replied.

Then after a minute, they both heard a click, "Emmeline? Are you on?"

"Yes, I am," said Emmeline. "So what's Auntie up to now?"

"I'm surprised that someone hasn't told you yet," answered Lois. "Because this is even weirder than usual."

"All right," said Rob. "Give it to us straight."

"Apparently, one minute she was conversing, through Rosalie of course, with Gertie's deceased sister," she explained. "The next minute, she had a message for Phoebe."

"And I'm sure that Mrs. Fowler is the messenger," commented Emmeline with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Doesn't she realize that Mrs. Fowler was kicked out of the house the last two times she played messenger girl? I doubt very much that anyone is going to let her in the house again. They've even locked the doors as a precaution."

"Good," said Lois. "Because if Phoebe is so close to giving birth, you really don't want her to hear this. It might be enough to cause problems. Here it is. The time of the bright lights falling from the sky is upon us. There is danger for all who stand and wait, from the cousin who could destroy the two sisters. Beware! There is a danger to an innocent third party, for the bright lights portent death and danger. Danger and death are intertwined for those who stand and wait. The innocent shall suffer. The dark will defeat the light. The light cannot win."

Rob had no idea whatsoever to say to that. As Lois had said, it was weirder than ever. Even Emmeline, who was always quick with a sardonic remark, had nothing to say. But he had jotted down notes, so that they would be able to review it later. Finally, he spoke.

"Thanks for the information, Lois," he replied. "If you can get Trelawney safely to Phoebe's house, that would be good. Whatever you do, don't let Mrs. Fowler pick her up and take her anywhere."

"I'll be sure to do that," she said. "I will call up the theatre right away and tell Mike that he has to stick to Trelawney like glue, no matter what Mrs. Fowler says. Don't worry, he will. As you know, he adores her and won't let anything happen to her."

"Thanks again, Lois," he said. "We really appreciate your help."

He sat down, utterly baffled by what he had just heard. Looking at the clock, he could see that there wasn't much time. The theatre program would be over in a half hour. If he didn't have to be home for Prudence, who would be arriving any minute, he would have left for the theatre himself.

But then he caught himself. He knew that the downtown traffic at this time of day, especially on a Saturday, meant that none of them would be able to reach the theatre in time. Now he knew what Emmeline meant when she spoke about people panicking when they heard Aunt Henrietta's premonitions.

He was still worried about Trelawney. Despite what Lois had said about Mike, he was afraid that he couldn't stand up to Mrs. Fowler who might also be unknowingly abetted by Francine who also cared deeply for the child. Then Emmeline re-entered the workshop.

"I have no idea of what to make of this muddle," she said, bewildered for once. "I thought that some of these premonitions had already occurred. And some of them we haven't heard for a while."

"Well," he replied. "When we get Trelawney here safe and sound, I am going to call on the only person who I know can help with this."

"Pastor Jason?" she asked.

"Pastor Jason," he answered. "But first we have to get Trelawney home safely."

They looked at each other hopefully and then heard a knock on the door. It was Tom and Bernice. Looking at their faces, Tom spoke first.

"Auntie starting up her nonsense again?" he asked.

"And then some," answered Rob. "I'm glad that you're here, Bernice, because that means that we can go down to Phoebe's and make sure that everything is okay there. Butch and Prudence will be home soon."

"Phoebe was napping downstairs when I left," said Emmeline to Rob. "We'll want to get her back upstairs before Trelawney gets there or she will be wondering why Mike is walking her to the door."

"Is there anything that we can do?" asked Bernice, now looking concerned.

"At the moment, the most important thing that you can do is be here for Butch and Prudence," he said. "And Tom, you'll be able to help with Trelawney down at Hal's."

Tom and Bernice exchanged a very worried glance. Rob knew that they were speaking with ellipses, but the story was too complicated to synopsize right now. They just didn't have the time.

"I promise that we will explain everything to you in time," said Emmeline. "But presently we've got to get Trelawney safely to Hal's house and keep her from finding out too much. If she does, she will be very frightened. So it's better if you don't know when you go down, Tom. We're not even going to tell Catherine."

"But you do trust us?" asked Bernice uncertainly.

"If we didn't trust you," said Rob. "We would not have told you this much. But if it sets your mind at rest, the reason for the secrecy is that Trelawney's mind is so deeply connected to the universal consciousness that she can perceive the thoughts of those around her. Emmeline knows how to keep her from reading her thoughts, but I want to get back here before she gets there, so that I don't inadvertently tip her off. Then, if we can occupy Butch and Prudence with something else, I'll tell you everything."

"I know that this is a muddle, but that's the way it is with Auntie," explained Emmeline. "She has probably set in motion some things that are going to get away from her very quickly. And then we'll be left to clean up the mess."

"You can count on us," said Tom. "For whatever help you need."

"I know that," said Emmeline, with a cautious smile. "The good king always prevails."

But on their way out, Elspeth came bounding at them, barking furiously. She stood before them as they tried to get out the front door and would not budge. When Rob tried to move her aside, she actually growled.

"The last time I saw her do that," he said. "Was when Aunt Henrietta was here, do you think that she knows something?"

"Let's ask her," said Emmeline. "Elspeth, do you want to go with us to be with Trelawney?"

Now the dog barked and wagged her tail.

"Hmm," Emmeline said to the dog. "You realize that you would have to stay on the first floor, then. Mrs. Clancy would throw a fit if you went upstairs."

The dog began to whimper and bark, while Emmeline listened closely. Then she turned to Rob.

"She'll stay down on the first floor if she must," she said. "But if Trelawney is in danger she will come upstairs."

"What does she know about that?" he asked.

The dog whimpered and barked again. Now she seemed more anxious.

"She knows as much as we do," answered Emmeline. "She was eavesdropping again."

Rob sighed. "Okay, she can come down with us. Thankfully, Corgis are not 'an enormous hairy' breed. But if Mrs. Clancy tosses her out, she'll have to come back here and sulk with Waldo."

The dog barked in agreement.

"Okay," said Rob. "We're off. See you in a bit, Bernice."

As they left they heard Tom say to Bernice, "Was I just seeing things, or were they really talking to the dog?"

No one answered him as the three of them walked down to Hal's. It was just one of those things that they would have to get used to if they planned on spending more time around here, thought Rob.

**Another Rescue**

Once again, Lois found her life intersecting with the Everetts. She knew that Mike's good fortune was somehow the result of Trelawney and her cousin's good actions. Rather than question it, she had decided to quietly accept it and be ready to help the family in any way that she could. This was obviously the time. She decided to make her way to the theatre immediately and hopefully get Mike and Trelawney out before Mrs. Fowler could arrive.

She knew that this would upset Francine, but there wasn't anything that she could do about it. Once her mother told her everything then she would understand. She really did feel sorry for the lovely girl who had to suffer from such an overbearing mother. It would not be the first time that she embarrassed her and it would certainly not be the last. And sadly, this was the kind of thing that might force the Everetts to make a decision that the girls couldn't see each other anymore. And that would be a tragedy for both of them.

Lois reached the theatre about ten minutes after the class was over. For some reason, the downtown traffic was worse than usual that afternoon. She inwardly groaned when she saw that Mrs. Fowler's car was already there. She quickly exited her own car and made her way into the lobby. It was not a large building and she could hear the sound of raised voices coming from the theatre.

Oh, great, she thought, this is just what we need. It was unfortunate that she had not been able to get there first. The argument going on was going to be the topic of dinner conversations all over town once word got out. She entered the back of the theatre and witnessed a very dramatic scene.

Mrs. Fowler was off to one side of the stage, holding onto Francine and demanding that Mike hand over Trelawney "for her own good." Mike was standing opposite, holding his ground while Trelawney peeked out from under his arm. Mrs. Duncan was in the middle, obviously trying to mediate the situation. But she really had no choice. Rob was Trelawney's legal guardian and she could only allow the girl to leave with his designated surrogate.

"I have been driving this child back and forth to this theatre for over a year now," Mrs. Fowler was saying in her most indignant voice. "If Mr. Everett no longer wished for me to drive her, I am sure that he would have told me."

"I received a phone call from him about forty-five minutes ago, telling me that Trelawney could only leave with Lois Lenihan," explained Mrs. Duncan, rather loudly but patiently. "He told me that Trelawney was to stay with Mike until Lois came to get them."

It sounded as if she had already said this a couple of times already. Lois could see that the standoff had been going on for several minutes. She was grateful that her son, although he was looking very threatening, had chosen to stay out of the battle between the two women. Walking forward briskly, she called out to the stage in her own authoritative voice.

"Thank you, Mrs. Duncan," she said with just enough force to get her point across. "I will be taking Mike and Trelawney home now."

Mrs. Fowler turned to her quickly.

"I have been driving Trelawney back and forth to these classes for over a year," she said with more than a hint of outrage in her voice. "As a favor to Professor and Mrs. Everett. In fact, if it wasn't for me, Trelawney would never have enrolled in the program in the first place."

Francine nodded uncertainly, but seemed very confused. She knew Trelawney well enough to realize that she was under orders from the family back in England to obey Rob Everett. Not even Phoebe could countermand his decisions. Trelawney had an uncharacteristic look of fear on her face. She might not understand what was going on, but she knew that she had to obey Rob, or face severe consequences from her family. And now that Lois could see that Mrs. Fowler was on the defensive, she decided to exploit her advantage.

"Well," she said calmly, but firmly. "Since guardianship has changed in the intervening time, I believe that it is now Rob who has the last say. Come along, Mike, it is time for us to bring Trelawney home."

She was determined to do what she came to do and not get into her own squabble with the woman. But Mrs. Fowler was not that easily deterred.

"Before she goes home, she has a critical appointment that she cannot miss," she declared. "I have been told that it is a matter of life or death."

"By whom?" asked Lois, trying to control her temper because she knew whom it was.

"Why the Princess of course!" she said. "She told me that both of her nieces are in mortal danger, unless Trelawney comes to see her at once. Rosalie has a vital message for her. Since Mrs. Everett is in labor as we speak, time is of the essence."

Forgetting for a minute what was going on, Trelawney said eagerly, "She is?"

"Yes, dear," said Lois calmly. "Mike and I are here to bring you to her directly."

Before Trelawney could react, Mrs. Fowler interjected, "You must speak to Rosalie or the baby is in grave danger."

If Trelawney were not so visibly shaken by her words, Lois would have laughed at the melodramatic tone. Trelawney had been known to laugh at her aunt herself on different occasions, but now she looked scared. And it was not because she wanted to go with Mrs. Fowler to see Auntie out of fear for the baby. She looked at Mrs. Duncan.

"Please, ma'am," she pleaded. "I want to go to Phoebe. Don't make me go with Mrs. Fowler."

Mrs. Duncan looked uncertain. She seemed overcome by the new information being hurled at her.

"Please," the girl begged. "Rosalie is nothing more than a little fool who spouts out whatever nonsense anyone tells her to. I'd trust Prudence with a message before her, and no one can muddle a story as well as Prudence."

Now Mrs. Duncan looked baffled. Even she knew that Rosalie had supposedly died a hundred years ago. Yet, Trelawney was speaking of her as if she were still alive.

Mrs. Fowler saw her advantage and moved a couple of steps closer to Mike.

Now truly frightened, Trelawney clutched him even more tightly. He put his arms around her, picked her up, and prepared to leave with her. Mike had once told his mother that he would guard Trelawney with his life.

"Wait!" cried Mrs. Fowler. "You have no idea of the danger you are putting the baby in."

The vehemence in her voice made him stop momentarily, but Trelawney buried her face in shoulder and began to sob. Ignoring Mrs. Fowler, Mike strode off the stage and towards her. Lois quickly hustled them out to the car. As they left the theatre, they could hear Mrs. Fowler loudly berating Mrs. Duncan for letting them take her.

Lois realized that she didn't even know the half of what was going on, but didn't care. Now that she had the girl, she was determined to get her to her sister's house as quickly as possible. But she was worried about her emotional state. Mike sat in the back with her trying his best to console her. However it was impossible to understand what she was talking about.

Despite the traffic, they arrived at Everetts in twenty minutes. They were met at the front door by Tom Williams. Lois was amazed to see him of all people there, but didn't want to linger in case Phoebe heard them and wanted to know why the child was so upset. Still carrying her, Mike handed her over to Tom.

"We'll take care of her now," he said quietly. "Thank you for bringing her to us safely."

Lois nodded as the door closed behind them. Mike looked at her in utter disbelief.

"What just happened now?" he asked.

Lois sighed. "We have to go pick up Tim from his swimming lesson. I'll explain everything that I know to you on the way."

Puzzled Mike followed her out to the car, but turned and took one last look at the house.

"Poor kid," he said, now upset. "If her old auntie doesn't leave her alone she'll have me to answer to."

"Get in line, son," she said grimly. "There are a lot of people in town who are sick to death of the Princess and her nonsense."

**Recovery**

As Emmeline was coming down the stairs, she saw a very frightened Trelawney clinging to Tom Williams and sobbing. Elspeth was standing beside them, but not barking as she normally would. She knew that if she were not quiet then she would have to return to Rob's house. Not completely understanding what was going on, Tom was trying to comfort her. But he also had a helpless expression on his face. She decided to take control of the situation.

"Tom, bring her into the living room," she said. "There now, love. Em is here. Everything is all right. Put her down here, Tom."

Emmeline sat down on the couch and the girl curled up in her arms. Elspeth jumped up on the couch and sat down on the other side, head alert. As she stroked her hair and kissed her head, the girl slowly stopped crying.

"There's a good girl, now," she said soothingly. "You wouldn't want your Phoebe to see you like this now, would you? There'll plenty of time for tears when little Maisie is born and we're all so happy then, right?"

"How is my Phoebe?" she asked, still trying to gulp down her sobs. "Mrs. Fowler said she was in labor."

"That's right, love," she replied. "But we've got quite a ways to go I'm afraid. Your Phoebe is still having a little bit of a nap for herself now. You must collect yourself. We would not want to upset her now, would we?"

"No, Em," she replied, shaking her head. "It's good then that she's still napping. I will recover myself before she wakes up."

"Was it really so scary?" she asked gently.

"It was terrible," she replied nodding. "Mrs. Fowler said that if I didn't go with her to Auntie, I would hurt the baby. I know it's all rubbish, but it still frightens me to hear it."

She buried her face in Emmeline's shoulder again. There wasn't much to be done for it. She would comfort her the best she could. The dog nuzzled her to try and offer what consolation she could. Then, Tom sat down opposite them and gave her a little smile.

"Could you use a bit of help from the good king, little one?" he asked seriously.

Trelawney looked up and considered his question.

"I do believe that my Em is quite capable of caring for me," she said thoughtfully. "Is the good queen here?"

"Yes," he replied. "The good queen is upstairs with the gallant knight and the two nurses looking after the lovely lady."

"And the fair maiden," she added. "But I would not call Mrs. Clancy a nurse to her face if I were you."

Tom smiled. "And why is that?"

"Mrs. Clancy is a midwife," she replied. "To call a midwife a nurse is a serious breach of etiquette. And one such as Mrs. Clancy would surely breathe fire on you if you did."

"One such as Mrs. Clancy?" he asked, with obvious interest.

"She would have you believe that she is a dragon," she whispered. "But that is her disguise. It is how she protects her charges. Midwives are given a most sacred task. They bring new lives into the world. It is a most fragile time for both mother and child. You will see, when she drops her disguise, she is quite a gentle woman, a wise woman in fact."

"Yes, I believe that you may be right," he replied thoughtfully. "I know that you have given these names to everyone around you. But tell me, who is Emmeline?"

Trelawney smiled mischievously.

"Right now she is the warrior maiden," she replied. "She fights all who would do harm to the lovely lady and Trelawney."

"Interesting," he commented. "How does the warrior maiden feel about her title?"

There was also a hint of mischief in his voice that Emmeline did not like. She did not like to be teased, even by Trelawney. She took herself very seriously and demanded that others do so also. She ignored the question.

"Trelawney, love," she said in her business-like voice. "Now that you are here, you must stay here. We don't want people constantly running in and out of the house."

"You mean that you don't want to risk me running into Mrs. Fowler," she corrected.

"Yes, that too," she admitted. "But as we told you, Auntie is up to her old tricks. Her predictions are pure nonsense, and as dire as ever."

"'A tale told by an idiot,'" the child quoted. "'Full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.'"

"That's Shakespeare, isn't it?" asked Tom.

"Yes, sir," replied Trelawney. "MacBeth. Do you know it?"

"As a matter of fact I do," he said. "It's the end of a speech in Act 5, scene 5, the part where MacBeth has just been told of the death of Lady MacBeth."

"Yes, it is!" she declared, clapping her hands in delight. "Do you know it well?"

"Not as well as I would like to," he admitted. "That has always been one of my favorite quotes. Now I haven't seen a lot of your Auntie, but it seems to me that there is a fair comparison to be made to Lady MacBeth. Don't you think?"

Emmeline watched as Trelawney considered it. Her little face turned pensive and she seemed to stare off into space. The child knew her Shakespeare backwards and forwards. She frequently quoted or alluded to him.

"Auntie would make a rather decent Lady MacBeth," she said slowly. "Her husband is already dead, but she is very ambitious. And she seeks to help Grandfather assert his importance over the Figalillys. Uncle David is such a kindly man, not much different from Duncan . . ."

"Trelawney," she interrupted quickly. "Let us not take this comparison too far. It might get you into trouble."

"Why is that?" asked Tom.

Emmeline was beginning to find Tom Williams a very uncomfortable person to be around. She was afraid, among other things that he was starting to understand Trelawney a little better than she thought that he should. But before she could answer, Catherine entered the room.

"Oh, there you are dear," she said. "Phoebe just woke up and was asking for you."

"She was?" asked Trelawney eagerly. "Oh, thank you Mama Kate!"

She gave Catherine a hug and then started to run up the stairs, with Elspeth at her heels.

"Wait a minute, young lady," she called her back.

Trelawney returned to her and stood before her. Catherine gently grasped her shoulders and looked at her closely.

"You have been weeping, little one," she said softly.

"Yes, Mama Kate," she replied quietly. "I nearly had an encounter with the evil witch, but one of my gallant knights has saved me."

"Well, wash your face and brush your hair," said Catherine. "We would not wish to worry the lovely lady, would we?"

"Of course not," she said, shaking her head. "I forgot myself."

"And Elspeth stays down here," she continued firmly. "Or Mrs. Clancy will have us bring her back home."

"Yes, ma'am," she said respectfully.

And then turning to the dog, she said, "You heard what Mama Kate said."

Elspeth gave a little whimper, but nevertheless took up a guard post at the foot of the stairs.

Trelawney started to sedately walk up the stairs, but began to bound again before she reached the top. Catherine looked up after her fondly.

"What will Mrs. Clancy make of her exuberance, do you think?" asked Tom.

"Mrs. Clancy is actually quite fond of her," answered Emmeline. "She is extremely respectful and very interested in everything that she says and does. She insists that we follow her instructions scrupulously."

"Well," he said. "I can see how Mrs. Clancy would like that. Emmeline, why do you keep cutting Trelawney off when she talks to me about her medieval imagery or Shakespearean quotes? What are you afraid of?"

Emmeline was silent. This was a truly uncomfortable man.

"Emmeline," he said more gently. "Bernice and I both love Trelawney very much. We have seen enough of your aunt to know that she is a threat to her and by extension Phoebe and the child. I have also heard enough about her premonitions to know that they are very opaque."

"That is true," replied Emmeline slowly as she tried to process his words and collect her thoughts at the same time.

"Let me be upfront," he said. "I can see what you are all trying to do here. I know that you are trying to keep any hint of trouble from Phoebe and therefore from those who presently surround her. That will only work up to a point. You know as well as I do that you can't control everything."

Emmeline did indeed know that, but she still had no intention of taking this man, who was essentially a stranger to her, into her confidence. When Tom could see that he wasn't getting anywhere with her, he sighed and stood up.

"I will go upstairs and see Phoebe," he said. "She will feel better knowing that we are all now here. However, within several hours, I suspect that she will be feeling worse."

He went upstairs, but now she had to face Catherine.

"He's right you know," she said. "You won't be able to keep Trelawney's true nature from him indefinitely. Aside from the fact that he loves her, he now has entered her medieval landscape. You know as well as I do that this means that he is important to both her and Phoebe."

She looked at Emmeline with a penetrating gaze.

"And don't forget. To the baby as well."

She then turned and returned to the bedroom to tend to Phoebe.

Emmeline nodded and watched as she went up the stairs. She didn't know why, but she felt as if she had met Tom Williams before. Sylvia had said the same thing about him. She knew from talking with the children that he was half Cornish. It was a discovery that had excited them because it meant that they were one-quarter Cornish, giving them at least partially, the same ancestral background as Phoebe.

He seemed to have some of the intuitions of their race, but in the total scheme of things, not many. And he understood Trelawney very well if he could engage her, as he did, in conversation about her medieval figures and then about Shakespeare. She suspected that it had something to do with his deceased son Stephen, who also had been a little fey.

Now that had been a shock a month ago. Tom and Bernice had had a son fifteen years younger than Helen who had died of scarlet fever at the age of six. If he were alive today, he would be about Phoebe's age. Knowing this, made Bernice's possessiveness of Helen far more understandable. In fact, it shed a whole new light on who the woman was and what she was about. She, too, loved the girl dearly.

It did puzzle her that Helen had not even told Hal about her little brother, but then she realized that there were still a fair number of things that Phoebe hadn't shared with Hal about their family. She gave herself a mental shake. She knew that she needed to return upstairs. If Phoebe was awake, it meant that she might be starting active labor soon. Or not. She doubted it. Little Maisie was not due to make her entrance until tomorrow.

"Em! Phoebe is asking for you!" called Trelawney from the top of the stairs.

"Now I'll have no hollering about, in, or near my delivery room!" she heard Mrs. Clancy say, just as loudly. "You'll settle yourself down, young lady or you'll find yourself up the street with the other children."

Up the street indeed, thought Emmeline as she climbed the stairs. The old dragon wasn't sending the little one anywhere and they both know it. Even the feisty, old Irishwoman had figured out that Trelawney was needed. She might not know how she knew it, but she knew it.

**The Alliance**

Topher had had a long day at work. In fact, it had been a long month. Business had been so good that his boss was running crews six days a week. With time and a half for overtime, he was raking it in. On top of that he was paid in cash. And he squirreled away almost every cent in the bank.

His biggest expense was his van, but he needed that to haul around his drum kit during the school year when his band played gigs, more money for him, off the books. It would hopefully get his Dad off the hook for college, at least for him. But Rachel and Rebecca were also working jobs this summer. None of them wanted Dad to have to pay out any money for their college. They were barely making as it is.

Tonight, all he wanted was a nice hot shower and to go to bed early, so he wouldn't have to drag himself into church tomorrow morning. He knew that if he did, he would be in hot water with Pastor Jason again. However, things didn't quite work out according to plan. He had to take his shower before dinner. That was because his Mom wouldn't let him sit at the table all sweaty and smelly from the day's work. He was beat, but the dinner conversation woke him up real fast. Princess Lotus Bud, or whatever her name was, was causing trouble again.

"This whole thing is crazy," said his Dad. "Who the hell does that crazy old bat think that she is?"

"Be careful of you language in front of the children, Chris," warned his Mom.

"Now, Janet," he said. "You won't believe what I have been listening to all day. It seemed like every customer that came in had a new chapter in the book."

Dad was a mechanic in a local auto shop. Saturdays were always busy and all the customers came in with the latest gossip.

"What are you talking about, Dad?" asked Topher. "Is Princess Lotus Bud up to her old tricks again?"

The girls all laughed.

"You mean Princess Lotus Flower, right Toph?" asked Rebecca.

"Yeah, right, whatever," he replied. "You know who I'm talking about. What has that chick Rosalie been yacking about now?"

Dad took a break from his tirade to smile at him. He was proud of the way that he had screwed up her premonitions a few weeks ago. But Mom had her, "how many times have I told you to stay out of other people's business" look on her face.

"Well, let's see," he said. "First thing I hear is that Phoebe Everett is in labor."

"Oh thank you, Lord!" said Rachel. "It will give Prudence something else to talk about."

"Anyway," he continued. "Mrs. Fowler found out and told the 'Princess' and that was when the fireworks started."

"Oh poor Francine," interrupted Sarah. "She must be mortified."

"As I was saying," said Dad loudly, in his "interrupt me one more time and you'll be sorry" voice. "The Princess gave one of her wackiest predictions yet, full of bright lights falling from the sky, doom for the innocent, the sisters, the cousins, and probably half the planet for all we know. And the old bag, Mrs. Fowler that is, has been spreading this junk all over town. And then there was the big tussle at the theatre over who would take poor Trelawney home."

Dad stopped to take a drink of water. Topher was impatient to hear more. Mom was looking at him in a way that meant she was probably going to try to keep him in for the night.

"Going back to the story," he said. "Apparently Rob Everett told Mrs. Duncan that Trelawney could leave the theatre with no one other than Lois Lenihan. Mrs. Fowler went nuts because _she _wanted to take her since she had been driving her all along."

"But Trelawney _has _to listen to what Mr. Everett tells her to do!" exclaimed Sarah. "Or she'll be in big trouble with her family at home. Sorry, Daddy, I didn't meant interrupt."

"Well, I guess that Mrs. Fowler didn't know that," he said. "But anyway, Mike had the kid and carried her out to the car with Lois. You know Lois. She's not one to spread rumors. Everyone figures that she got the girl home safely."

"Why do you think that Mrs. Fowler was so determined to drive her home?" asked Mom. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Where Mrs. Fowler is concerned it doesn't have to make sense," commented Topher.

"True enough," said Dad. "The word on the street is that the Princess had asked Mrs. Fowler to bring Trelawney to her. She had a message of critical importance for her. If she didn't go, then the baby's life could be in danger."

Everyone was silent.

"That is the craziest thing that I've ever heard," said Mom.

"When you're talking about the Princess," answered Topher. "You are only talking about crazy. I've got to go, see you later."

"Hey, son!" said Dad. "I thought that you were going to hit the hay early tonight?"

"Just got my second wind, Dad," he replied. "Don't wait up for me!"

"Christopher Allen Tucker," yelled his Mom. "How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of other people's business?"

But Topher was in no mood to get into an argument. He needed to find Mike Lenihan, and real fast. He knew that the only person in town who might care as much about Trelawney as himself was Mike. He swore to everyone that if it wasn't for Trelawney that he wouldn't be going to NYU in a couple of weeks.

And he knew that even though everyone said that he was the hero a few weeks ago, that it was Trelawney who had really done it. Trelawney was always taking care of other people like that. He knew that Mike would agree that it was time for them to take care of her for once.

It didn't take him long to find Mike. He was part of a crowd that liked to hang out at a local diner. When he entered he could see that he was sitting by himself, pretending to drink a Coke. And he did not look happy. Topher decided to just go up to him and get into it. If he was looking that down, it meant that the whole scene down at the theatre had really gotten to him. Being an artsy type, Mike was a sensitive guy.

"Hey, Mike!" he said, as he sat down in the seat on the other side of the booth. "You look like you've seen better days."

"Yeah, I guess so," he answered. "I have a lot on my mind."

"About Trelawney?"

Mike sighed.

"I guess the whole town knows by now," he replied.

"Just about," said Topher. "My Dad works as a mechanic at the Texaco station downtown. He said that everyone who came in today was talking about it."

"Well isn't that just groovy," commented Mike sarcastically. "So I guess that you decided that you get the story straight to the horse's mouth."

"Hey, man" he said. "I love Trelawney just as much as you do. And I've seen her 'auntie's' little show in action. She's a fruitcake if there ever was one."

"Tell me about it, man," answered Mike. "And poor, little Francine's mother is one her most faithful followers. It's like Princess Lotus Flower has some kind of mind control over her or something."

"Mrs. Fowler just likes to be the center of attention," Topher informed him. "What's the old saying? 'The bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral?'"

That at least generated a little smile from him. Topher went on.

"Look, Mike," he said. "Before Hal left for his program at Cal Tech, he asked me to look after Trelawney and his Mom, specifically with regard to the Princess. Now I've been trying to do that, but things have gotten intense, man. I was hoping that we could join forces, so to speak, and work together on this."

Mike looked thoughtful.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Between your Mom and my Dad we pretty much know everything that's going on," he said. "Now my Dad knew a lot of the story, but he didn't quite get the predictions straight. That's not the kind of thing he would worry about. In fact, he was pretty annoyed that he had to spend the day listening to all that garbage."

"Well," answered Mike. "My Mom had the predictions down pretty good. Let me see. The time of the bright lights is upon us. There is danger for all who wait. The cousin brings danger to the two sisters. An innocent third party shall suffer when the bright lights fall. Death and danger are coming to those who wait. The dark will defeat the light. The light cannot defeat the dark."

"Wow!" said Topher. "That is crazy! But let's see if we can figure it out. I bet that the bright lights falling are the Perseids meteor showers. They are going on right now, but tomorrow night is the peak. Okay, so the timing makes sense if Mrs. Everett is in labor."

"The two sisters could be Trelawney and Mrs. Everett," reasoned Mike. "Could the innocent third party be the baby? When Mrs. Fowler was trying to get Trelawney to go with her, she told her that the baby was in grave danger if she didn't go with her. She also said that it was a matter of life and death."

"Maybe," said Topher. "It makes sense, but it's not as clear as the falling lights. I'm sure that there are lots of pairs of sisters and the innocent third party could be anyone. Does it sound like they are linked?"

"That's the impression that I got," replied Mike. "But what about the cousin? From what Trelawney tells me they have about a gazillion of those."

"Then let's leave that alone for now," he said. "The part about those who stand and wait could definitely be all the people who are waiting for the baby to be born. But there sure are a lot of them too."

"Yeah," said Mike. "Now it's something like half the town. I feel bad for both Mrs. Everett and Trelawney. They are both real private people. I hope that they don't find out about this."

"It's hard to say," answered Topher. "Mr. Everett is a really careful man. It wouldn't surprise me if they weren't telling them anything at the house. You know that the baby is going to be born at home. My Mom thinks that Mrs. Everett is crazy."

"So does mine," agreed Mike. "But Trelawney said that that's how they do it back home in the village. I'd say right now that it's just as well."

"Why is that?" asked Topher, his curiosity piqued.

"Well," replied Mike. "If they were in the hospital, it would be harder to keep news from getting inside, and to keep news from getting outside."

"Yeah, I can see that," he said. "I'd be willing to bet a hundred dollars that Mr. Everett isn't letting anyone in the house know what's going on outside."

"I wouldn't take you up on that bet, because I think that you're right," answered Mike. "But we still haven't discussed one more thing. What do you think that the dark defeating the light is all about?'

"That's a tough one," admitted Topher. "It's way too vague to make sense of."

"One thing that Trelawney told me about the Princess is that sometimes she get her 'wires crossed' and mixes up her predictions," replied Mike. "But it's kind of weird. When she was talking to Mrs. Fowler, she said that Rosalie is a little fool who mixes up her stories worse than Prudence."

"That would take _a lot _of mixing up," Topher told him. "Prudence has told Rachel some really far out stuff."

"Yeah," said Mike. "I don't know about that. But I do know that when we were at the theatre, Trelawney was talking about Rosalie as if she were alive. And Mom told me that she supposedly died over a hundred years ago at the age of twelve. That's pretty strange if you ask me."

"It sure is," mused Topher. "But then, Trelawney says a lot of strange things. Sarah told me that when she gets scared, she starts talking about everyone like she's in a medieval fairy tale or something. I bet she was pretty scared when Mrs. Fowler was trying to take her away from you."

"And how," Mike nodded. "But we can't even ask her now. My Mom got the impression from the kids' grandfather that she wasn't going to be going out anytime soon."

"That's probably for her protection," said Topher. "It means that they're scared too."

"I'm sure that they are," agreed Mike. "My Mom gave him the whole spiel about the predictions when he called her up to ask her to pick Trelawney up. Mr. Everett didn't say anything about it though. He just thanked her for letting them know. Mom got the impression that they had been hoping that she was going to leave them alone for a while."

Topher looked at him.

"This is just like, so unfair," he said. "Why can't these poor people just _get _left alone? I mean, it's like somebody has it in for them or something."

All Mike could do was nod. However, before he left, Topher had Mike's promise that he would keep his ear to the ground too. If either of them heard anything, then they would contact the other. Whatever was going on, it was definitely pretty creepy. This was one time that Topher had no desire to fly solo. Whatever was going on, he knew that he needed Mike as his wingman.

If the whole thing wasn't so potentially dangerous, then he might think that it was an adventure. But his gut feeling was that this _was _a life and death situation. Pastor Jason had told him to trust his instincts, and that God would take care of him. That seemed like his best bet right now. If he trusted in God, then He would help him out.

He thought once again of his patron saint, St. Christopher, and how he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Then he looked back at Mike. His Mom being Catholic and all, he was probably named after the archangel, Michael, who threw the bad angels out of heaven when they threatened to overthrow God. They made quite a pair. With patron saints like that in their corner they should have a pretty good shot at defeating the dark forces. Oh, man! Did he just think that? Trelawney must really be getting to him if he was even starting to think like her.

He stopped himself before he got in the van. That was it! If they were going to get the better of old auntie and the evil darkness then they were going to _have _to think like Trelawney. So far it seemed that she was the only one who was able to get the better of the Princess. Now why hadn't he thought of that before?

_To be continued . . ._


	4. Chapter 4

**The Waiting Time 4**

**The Other Children**

Well, times have really changed, thought Bernice, as she waited for Rob and the children to return home. She thought about how last summer, she would never have dreamed that she would be helping out Hal and is new wife at the time of their first child's birth. When news first came of her former son-in-law's romance with the much younger nanny to his children, it was easy enough to slough it off as rumor and innuendo. But then, the reports came from reliable sources. Their veracity seemed to be most evidenced by, for the most part, their lack of salaciousness.

It took her almost a whole year and months of heartache to finally realize that this was indeed a permanent change in the composition of her deceased daughter's family. At that point, she had two choices. She could either accept the young woman and rebuild her relationship with her grandchildren or not accept her and perhaps lose them forever.

She might have drifted into the second option had it not been for the tenacity of the odd little girl, Trelawney Rose Figalilly, the sister of her grandchildren's new stepmother. The orphaned girl had known tragedy as deep as hers. When she met her, her parents had passed away only about eight months ago. But for her there was no bitterness or even stoic acceptance. In the end, it was her very sweetness that called forth her own better angels.

In the mirror of the child's eyes, she realized that she had allowed herself to become a broken and bitter woman. But within those same blue eyes, she saw hope. She saw the heart of a little girl who refused to believe that she was beyond redemption. She had a very deep love for her sister and her new family. She wanted to enact the reconciliation for their sake. Her husband had been trying to reason with her for months, but she had refused to listen. In the end, it was the child with the heart of gold, who led her back to her family. She might be simple, but she was incredibly perceptive.

When she finally came to know her, it was obvious that she was what her husband called "a little fey." When she finally opened her eyes, she could see the resemblance to her little Stephen. Perhaps if her son had managed to survive the childhood illness that stole his life, he would have been like her. She was graceful, kind, and good. She lived at times in her own dream world. She only wanted happiness for those around her. Yet it might have been because she had lost so much to misfortune that she was determined that she herself would not lose what she had left to her own bitterness.

As she sat waiting for one of the children or Rob to come home, she was worried because of all the talk that Rob and Emmeline had made about some danger to her and keeping her safe. She hoped that whatever else was going on, that they could do it. The little girl was so happy that her sister was going to have a baby that she didn't want anyone or anything to spoil this joyous time for her. And the love between the sisters was such that any harm that should come to the child could have a devastating impact on her sister and her own unborn child.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps running towards the kitchen. Her granddaughter Prudence's voice was shouting.

"Grammy! Why did Amy's Mommy have to drop me off at your house? Is Mommy going to have . . ."

She looked at Prudence with a smile.

"You're not Grammy," said the little girl, trying to comprehend the unexpected situation.

Then she asked, "Is Mommy going to have the baby? Is that why you're here, Nana?"

"That's why I'm here," she said cheerfully. "And you're a smart girl to have figured it out!"

Prudence beamed. "Is Grammy with Mommy at her house?"

"Yes, she is," replied Bernice.

"Is Grampie?"

"No, he's not," called a voice coming in the kitchen door.

"Grampie!" shouted Prudence as she leapt into his arms. "Is it really true? Is Mommy having the baby now?"

"Well," said Rob. "Not exactly now. She's starting to have the pains that tell her that the baby is coming soon."

"Do they hurt a lot?" asked Prudence in concern.

"No, not at the moment," he said. "Grammy thinks that the baby might not be here until tomorrow."

"Oh!" she said hopefully. "Does that mean that we get to stay up all night waiting?"

"No," Bernice said. "It means that you will go to bed as usual. If anything happens we will wake you up right away and tell you."

Prudence thought about that.

"I still wish I could be with Mommy. How come Trelawney gets to be with Mommy and I don't?" she asked.

"Prudence," said Rob patiently. "We have been over this about a million times. Trelawney gets to stay with your Mommy because she is older. You are still too young. And if you don't believe us, then Mrs. Clancy would tell you the minute you stepped into the house. Enough is enough!"

"I know," she said. "But I can't help it. Sometimes if I ask Mommy or Daddy for the same thing about a million times, then I get what I want."

Bernice shook her head and laughed. Prudence turned to her.

"Is that what my angel Mommy used to do?" she asked her, almost accusingly. She really loved to know the many ways large and small that she was like her mother.

"Yes, she did!" answered Bernice. "Now give your Nana a hug and I'll give you a snack."

"Is it from a box?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Prudence!" said Rob, disapprovingly.

"No," said Bernice. "Your Grammy baked you some cookies this morning."

"Oh, good," she said. "Then, I'm hungry."

"So am I," said Butch coming in. "Is it time for me to be nervous?"

"What do you mean by that?" she asked puzzled.

"I mean, if I got dropped off here instead of at home does it mean that the baby's coming?" he asked. "That kind of makes me nervous."

"Why does it make you nervous?" asked Rob with a smile.

"Well," he said. "First I want everything to be okay with Mom and the baby. Then, I'm afraid that it's going to be another dumb sister."

"Hey! That's not nice!" complained Prudence.

Bernice smiled. One of the things that she was enjoying the most about Butch and Prudence was their humorous ways of reasoning things out. Hal got credit for the scientific mind, but the other two were also very sharp, each in his or her own creative way.

"Butch," she said. "I think that you really have no cause to worry about your Mom. She's in very good hands. And as for the brother or sister question there's no use worrying about it because you can't change it anyway."

"Is Mrs. Clancy there?" asked Butch.

"Of course, she is," answered Rob.

"Okay, you're right," he said. "If Mrs. Clancy is there, then everything will be fine."

"Good," she said. "Now that we have that cleared up, would you like some milk and cookies?"

"Yes, ma'am," they both said politely.

"You know," said Rob. "If you want, you may go into the living room and eat those cookies in front of the TV."

"Can we have the TV on?" asked Prudence.

"Of course!" said Rob. "Why would you think . . . Oh, never mind."

"Really?" asked Butch. "Cool! I hope that Mom has another baby real soon."

"Why is that?" asked Bernice.

"Because we never got to watch so much TV until she was having a baby!"

As the two ran out, Bernice and Rob laughed.

"Well, I guess they don't call it the electronic babysitter for nothing," he chuckled.

"I am supposing that there is a method to your madness," commented Bernice. "I don't think that Hal and Phoebe would approve."

Rob's expression grew serious.

"There's a lot going on right now that Hal and Phoebe don't know about," he said. "And we need to keep it that way. Emmeline and I have decided that we will keep their home as free of outside information as possible. They won't notice because they are all so focused on the baby's coming. You and I need to keep it that way."

"What is the story with Trelawney?" she asked, her concern for the girl returning.

"Boy, you don't beat around the bush," he replied. "I had forgotten that about you. At the moment, the crux of the matter is Trelawney. We believe that we have managed to keep her away from her aunt and soon she will be safe with Catherine. No one is going to get into that house that we don't want there."

"Okay," she said. "But what is the big worry, if it's not auntie?"

"To make a long story short," he said. "We've lost track of 'the unicorn,' the man that we told you about last month. One of Emmeline's brothers had been traipsing about Africa and Asia with him. The old boy didn't know that his secret was out, but then another cousin showed from the other side of the family and let him know that the jig was up. Those two have disappeared together."

"But aren't both sides of the family upset about what happened to Trelawney?" she asked.

"I need to clarify," he said. "The cousin who clued in Cholmondeley was also _his _cousin. One of Cholmondeley's aunts had married John's (the other cousin) father. These family relationships are all very tangled up since they don't really marry outside their own "kind," so to speak."

"Okay, so first off," she asked. "Where is Emmeline's brother?"

"Right now he is flying over the Pacific so that he can come here to guard Trelawney in person," he said. "I'm due to pick him up at LAX tomorrow morning. But here's the catch. If Trelawney discovers that he's here then she'll know that the unicorn is out there unguarded. That will no doubt throw her into a panic and there's no telling what she might do. And the stress wouldn't be very good for Phoebe either. And there is no doubt he (the unicorn) wants revenge. Since the revelation, he has become _persona non grata _among their people."

"And he blames her?"

"For telling," he replied. "It was supposed to be their secret, but first it nearly drove her crazy, in the clinical sense of the word, and then Phoebe. They both had terrible nightmares about it. Poor child. She just didn't understand what happened. Phoebe felt guilty because she didn't protect her. But she wasn't even home when it happened. No one had been able to protect her at the time, not even her parents."

"Then this is really about both of them, so we also need to keep this from Phoebe," she said.

"And Hal," added Rob. "He was furious when they found that it happened. And there is the fact that Cholmondeley almost married Phoebe after she and Hal had discovered that they were in love. This adds another layer of complication. You know that he has a temper. Right now, for Phoebe's sake, we don't want him all riled up."

"So really that's why you don't want anyone in the house to know what's happening beyond the walls of the house," she said. "Except for Emmeline that is. Because she can close off her mind to Trelawney."

"Yes, but our problems don't end there. Liam, Emmeline's brother, also has a hot temper. It's going to be up to us to keep him occupied so that he doesn't decide to show up there," he said. "Hopefully he will have cooled off after his long plane ride. And hopefully John and Cholmondeley are somewhere else."

"How can we know that?" she asked.

"My son Bob has a private investigator working on it now," he replied. "But these people are very good at flying under the radar, so to speak. A month ago, he hired a PI to look into Aunt Henrietta's background and he has been able to find nothing. If she wasn't living over on the other side of town, you might think that she didn't or had never existed."

"Just out of curiosity," she asked. "What makes you think that everyone down at Hal's house is now safe?"

"It's mostly an assumption based on what Trelawney has told us and how things have worked out in the past when we've listened to her. First of all," he said. "We have listened to her request for the presence of the good king and the good queen. Hal, as the gallant knight, must be there. The only one who is there but really doesn't need to be there, as far as we know, is Emmeline, even though she is the godmother-to-be. But _we_ need her because she is really our only contact within the house."

"What's the second reason?" she asked.

"Bob has hired two undercover security guards who are watching the house," he said. "No one is getting in there who is not on the guest list, so to speak."

"What about Butch and Prudence?" she asked. "They can't watch television indefinitely. Sooner or later they're going to be climbing the walls up here."

"If nothing happens with the baby tonight, and at last check, it didn't look like anything was," he said. "We were hoping that you could take Prudence out for the day, someplace out of town where you won't run into anyone she knows that she can talk to. I can keep Butch here with me since he won't say anything to anyone."

"That's easy enough," she said. "I always enjoy spending time with my granddaughter."

"Good," he said. "Now I have to call up Pastor Jason so that he knows what's going on. He watches over Trelawney and helps us keep her on an even keel. She can be impulsive, as you know, when she gets emotional."

"Well," she said. "It never does hurt to have God on your side."

However, before he could pick up the phone, it rang.

"Yes?" he said. "Good! Thanks, Emmeline."

He turned to Bernice. "That was Emmeline. Trelawney is there safe and sound."

"Well, that's a relief," she said. "Now I'm going look in the pantry and fridge to see what's available for dinner preparation."

"Feel free to use anything that you want," he said. "The kids are very good about eating anything that you give them as long as it's not packaged or processed."

"Phoebe's doing?" she asked.

"Whose else do you think?" He replied with a smile. "I think that Hal's idea of the ideal kitchen is that it is furnished with a large map with all the fast food places within a five mile radius marked with push pins."

"So things really haven't changed that much," she answered with a smile of her own.

"Bernice," he said as she turned away.

"Yes," she looked back at him.

"Thank you," he said softly. "From the way that you are behaving, you would think that Phoebe was about to give birth to your grandchild."

Bernice was silent for a minute. It was an interesting observation.

"In many ways, Rob," she replied simply. "She is."

She gave him a smile. For a minute he looked perplexed and he returned her smile. As she herself had said, it never hurts to have God, or even a little angel, on your side.

**The Angel Responds**

Pastor Jason was not all surprised by the call from Rob Everett. As usual he knew everything that was going on in town. Therefore, he knew that Phoebe was in labor, Aunt Henrietta was making more crazy predictions, and Mike and Lois had had to rescue Trelawney from Mrs. Fowler. A quick call from Emmeline had informed him that the guardians were all in place at Phoebe's house and Trelawney was safely there. But he could tell by the tone of her voice that something else had happened. And it was not good.

Rob told him that Bernice was staying at his house with Butch and Prudence, so he wanted to come down to the rectory to avoid being overheard by the children. Jason agreed to meet him after dinner. It would give him some time with his own family. He knew that he would be spending another long night in prayer. Like Emmeline, he knew that tomorrow Phoebe would be safely delivered of her baby girl. The problems that could arise beyond the walls of the house however, threatened to turn a joyful occasion into a bittersweet one.

When Rob entered his office, Jason was once again struck by how appropriate it should be that Trelawney had named him as the wise gentleman. He had all the _gravitas _necessary to carry out that role. And an important aspect of his wisdom was that he always knew when to look for guidance. He also knew where to look. He did not waste his time talking to those who might succumb to the temptation to gossip with others. He always came to someone that he knew would keep his confidences. In this case, it was himself.

Rob sat down in the chair across his desk and heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"Tough day?" he asked.

"To quote my grandson Butch, 'and how.'"

"Well, I can save you the trouble of telling me part of the story of your woes," he said trying to lighten the mood. "I know that Phoebe is in the beginning stages of labor. This is a fact that unfortunately our friend Mrs. Fowler told the Princess. I also know the details of the latest premonition. And finally, I know about the scene down at the community theatre between Lois and Mrs. Fowler. Has Trelawney recovered?"

"The last time I spoke with Emmeline on the phone," he said. "She had. She is a very resilient child and easily distracted. From what I can tell, she is thoroughly engaged in helping her Phoebe bring little Maisie into the world. Unfortunately she has to hold her tongue about that little detail. Fortunately, the midwife has sworn that it's a girl and she's never wrong, so at least they can say 'she.' She should be okay as long as she doesn't name her."

"Well, that's good," replied Jason. "The less young Trelawney has to censor herself, the less likely she is to say something that she shouldn't."

"True," said Rob. "We've got Phoebe, and most of them down there, insulated from the news of what is happening in the rest of the world. From what I have heard, the only angst in the room is Phoebe's because she is not yet dilated at all."

"Is the midwife sure that this isn't false labor?"

"Positive, and of course." And he added, "She's never wrong."

"That goes without saying," said Jason with a smile. "Now that we have the niceties out of the way, why are you really here?"

"Well, for one thing," replied Rob. "I'm glad that you know so much already. It saves me the trouble of repeating it."

"Okay, now quit stalling," he said. "So what's left?"

"We might as well not waste any words," he replied grimly. "Cholmondeley has disappeared and Liam has no idea of where he is. One of the Trelawney cousins, John, who also happens to be Cholmondeley's cousin on his mother's side, caught up with them in Tasmania. They both vanished together. So, having failed to keep him in sight, Liam is coming here to guard Phoebe and Trelawney."

"Good grief!" exclaimed Jason. "This couldn't be happening at a worse time!"

"No kidding," said Rob. "Liam is due in at LAX tomorrow morning at 9 am. I'm going out with Butch to pick him up. Bernice is going to take Prudence out for the day, away from town. Hopefully, by the time they get back, Maisie will be here and the worst will be over."

Jason looked at him doubtfully.

"I knew that it wouldn't be that easy," he said, now shaking his head. "I don't suppose that you can tell me when the baby is coming?"

Jason thought carefully before he answered.

"Not in the next twenty-four hours."

Rob looked very unhappy. Jason knew that it was more than just having the longer wait. By this time tomorrow night, he and Bernice would be trying to deal with Butch, Prudence, _and _a very anxious Liam Figalilly. Of the three, Liam was the biggest problem. But Rob had another concern.

"What about Cholmondeley and Cousin John?" he asked. "They both know exactly where Hal and Phoebe live, not to mention Catherine and I. And they know that Trelawney will be at one of the two houses. What if they show up?"

"Do you have any proof that they are in California?" Jason asked.

"No," he said. "But that doesn't mean that they're not. In fact we have no idea of where they might be at all. Bob has put a private investigator on the case, but I don't have much hope. The PI that has been investigating Aunt Henrietta has come up empty. It's like these people vanish in and out of thin air. The only thing that I can say for sure is that according to Emmeline, they both want to find Trelawney."

"What is her reasoning?" he asked.

"Cholmondeley wants revenge for having his little unicorn charade exposed," he explained. "And John wants to bring her back home to Grandfather Trelawney."

"Has it been pointed out to Emmeline that if this is true, then they are operating at cross purposes?" he asked.

"Yes, said Rob. "And the answer that I got to that suggestion was that 'Johnny' is too obtuse to realize that."

Jason smiled. "Well, that could be quite true. Cholmondeley could probably tell him just about anything and he'd believe it. If you recall, when John was here before, his handling of the custody matter was not exactly brilliant. Now as I remember, it is John's mother who is a Featherstonehaugh?"

"That's correct," replied Rob. "Aunt Clara. Apparently the party line given by _that_ family is that Trelawney is lying. _They _want to get Trelawney back to the village in order to clear Cholmondeley of the charge that she's made. This could theoretically be why John thinks that helping Cholmondeley to clear his name will also appease his grandfather. He seems to think that he can kill two birds with one stone and make everybody happy."

"Well, good luck to that," said Pastor Jason. "The last thing that Cholmondeley wants is for her to go back to the village. There are too many people there who will be able to discern her mind and discover the truth before she even says a word. They won't be able clear Cholmondeley of the charge that way."

"No, they won't," agreed Rob. "That's what Cholmondeley knows and they don't. They all seem to think that he is incapable of such action. In fact, Hal told me that when he first showed up last year, Phoebe was completely confused as to what Trelawney's problem with him was. From what everyone knew of him up to this point, he was an odd sort of a fellow, but essentially harmless. Yet according to Emmeline, Trelawney is incapable of lying."

"Especially about this," confirmed Jason.

"What do you mean?"

"When then assault occurred, Trelawney was not exactly sure of what happened. She was simply too young," he explained. "I correct myself. She knew _what _had happened, she just didn't understand it, other than to know that there was something wrong with it. It scared her, but then Cholmondeley further confused her by telling her the legend of the unicorn. At the time she was too young to understand the metaphor. She took it literally and so she believed that she had lured him and caught him and had actually 'welcomed him' when he put his head in her lap so to speak."

"You seem very sure of this," commented Rob.

"Well, yes," replied Jason. "If you haven't figured it out already, I have the same ability to discern minds as the Figalillys. In this case, Trelawney's trust in me is such that I have been able to discern this from her mind without her realizing it. She has very effective ways of closing off her thoughts. She told me once that Meg taught her how to do this as a protective device. Fortunately, she truly does believe that when Hal smashed the unicorn charm last year, it destroyed the actual 'unicorn.' Seeing Cholmondeley himself would destroy that belief. I don't even like to consider what that would do to her mental state."

"I really don't like the sound of that," Rob said. "Especially since she now appears to understand what happened."

"Now she does," replied Jason. "When she saw him for the first time when he came to claim Phoebe as his bride, she still didn't know. She was dreadfully confused because he frightened her, but she didn't know why. She also believed that she had stolen her sister's betrothed from birth through the little unicorn game. She ran away to Francine's to escape all the conflicting feelings she had when she saw him. The unicorn charm that she perceived was in the gift box he tried to give her brought back all the confusing memories.

"But when she described the things that had happened to her to Francine, the other girl tried to explain them to her. Aunt Agatha then discerned the information from Francine's mind. What she discerned was a description of the action, but with no name attached to it. Technically speaking, Trelawney has never told anyone what exactly happened by definition. She described the action and Francine figured it out."

"Really," said Rob, thoughtfully. "So then Trelawney never really did tell Cholmondeley's secret. And when it comes right down to it, neither did Francine. Aunt Agatha really figured it out by stealth, so to speak. She was just terrified of the unicorn until Hal smashed it. This casts everything in a new light."

"In what way?" Jason asked curiously. One of the reasons why he found these discussions so enlightening himself was that often another person's perspective could be helpful to his own understanding

"I think," said Rob carefully. "That if Aunt Agatha told the story to the family as being what she discerned from _Francine's _mind, then it was not something that was ever confirmed by Trelawney. It was Francine who had the words for it."

"So then, technically speaking, Trelawney did not betray his trust," said Pastor Jason. "If the story was attributed to Francine, then it is different then if Trelawney herself told it. However, Francine did not really tell it either. She was determined to honor the trust that her friend had placed in her."

"But we don't know whether Aunt Agatha included that detail or not," said Rob. "And Emmeline can't tell us from where she is. Nor can we find Aunts Agatha and Justine. And I think that it would be useless to hire another private investigator."

"You're right about that. Agatha and Justine fly about in that balloon of theirs wherever the spirit moves them. They are almost impossible to track," he said. "Is there anyone else that you can get in touch with?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "The problem with the Figalillys is that they get in touch with us. We don't get in touch with them. Except for Trelawney or Phoebe who seem to be able to contact them whenever they want to."

"That makes sense," replied Jason.

Rob looked at him doubtfully.

"Okay," he quickly amended. "It makes sense from their point of view. The Figalillys and those of their race not only discern the thoughts of others, including each other, they know when and where another is needed. They take care of each other and can be called upon in times of trouble, as least among close family members. We may just have to wait until Liam gets here, unless Emmeline decides to leave the house, which I doubt."

"What do we do in the meantime?" asked Rob.

Jason could see that he was getting very restless. He was frustrated by his own inability to protect the two sisters.

"Well for starters, let's set this discussion aside for now and look at these latest premonitions," he replied. "The birth of the child coincides with the Perseids meteor showers and tomorrow night is the peak. I have always suspected that this was the meaning of that premonition."

"The lights falling from the sky?"

"Yes, that seems to be the point from which all of the other premonitions emanate," he said. "The sisters are probably Trelawney and Phoebe, the innocent third party, Maisie. Could the cousin be John?"

"I guess so," said Rob. "But I don't like all of these assumptions. The other possible cousins are Liam and Emmeline. An argument can be made for it being one of those two."

"I don't like all of these assumptions either," admitted Jason. "But it seems that that's all that we have right now. Those who wait are most likely everyone waiting for the baby to be born."

"That makes very good sense," said Rob. "And the darkness defeating the light?"

"There are two possible ways of looking at that," answered Jason. "Literally or metaphorically. Literally is much less dangerous than metaphorically. And viewing it as absolutely a metaphor can get us into bigger troubles."

"Why?"

"Because it ignores the obvious," explained Jason. "Don't forget that Aunt Henrietta's premonitions never work out the way that you think that they will. Two of the last premonitions that she made worked out very literally, albeit in a way that no one had even thought to predict. And we wrong about the third one occurring when we thought that it did."

"True," said Rob, thoughtfully. "To quote Emmeline, sometimes she 'gets her wires crossed.'"

"Or someone is crossing them for her," he corrected. "I still have a very strong suspicion that some higher, malevolent power is using her to cause mischief around the child's birth for some reason that we have not ascertained yet. It is lucky for us that it has chosen such a foolish pawn. However, the thing with Cholmondeley may also be that same force hedging its bets, this time using the rather dim bulb John as its instrument. This implies that malevolent force may not be very bright itself. Especially if you consider that Rosalie is the contact."

"Can you even tell me who this Rosalie is?" asked Rob. "All that we know so far is that _she _is also a little fool. And that's based on what Trelawney says."

For a moment, Jason was silent. This was something that he definitely did not want to get into right now, because it was sure to muddy the waters even further. It was a pity that Trelawney continuously referred to the child as if she were alive and that she knew her. When all of this was over he would have to have a talk with her about that.

"Rosalie is indeed Aunt Henrietta's contact with the other side," he said. "She did exist, but is now what you might call a restless spirit. I cannot tell you anything beyond that."

Poor Rob just looked at him. Jason felt bad for him, but there wasn't much that he could do to help him. As with most things in life, nothing was simply black and white. And the things that always caught humans up were the grays. But he himself didn't even have all the answers. And even if he did, he could only give guidance. Finally, Rob spoke.

"What does that mean?" he asked. "Do we or don't we trust what Rosalie says?"

"Well, no we really can't. But it also means that you cannot take any of our hypotheses for granted," replied Jason. "We are never given all of the information that we need to accurately predict the future. There are always too many variables. It is impossible to account for all of them. There is ample evidence of this in the past."

"Okay," said Rob, looking somewhat defeated. "I'm going home. With any luck, we're wrong about Cholmondeley and Cousin John. But anyway, I have a lot of thinking to do before I pick up Liam tomorrow."

Yes, you do, thought Jason and after giving him a blessing, and letting him go. He had known that things would be very complicated around the time of Maisie's birth, but this realization, about Trelawney perhaps not being the true betrayer of Cholmondeley's secret, had come out of nowhere.

However, the matter was still very complex because they had not fully addressed the vague aspects of the premonition. Maisie's birth date had not been consistently foretold several times for no reason. A child such as her represented a very powerful threat to the forces of darkness. There was still danger about. He just didn't want any more fear and panic among the Everetts than there was already.

With no alternatives left, he decided to pray. He could not truly believe that the darkness would ever conquer the light, unless of course . . . No, that could not be possible. He turned his mind over to the only one who could really help him. Fortunately, he really didn't need much sleep. It was going to be a long night.

**Goodnight, Prudence**

Even though Mommy was going to have the baby soon, Prudence was annoyed because she still had to go to bed at her usual time. It just wasn't fair. Of course, Butch had to go to bed too. He had told her to quit yacking and just do what he was going to do, pretend to go to sleep. Well, maybe that was good enough for Butch, but she wanted to be downstairs with Nana and Grampie.

After dinner, Grampie went out to see Pastor Jason. Butch was hoping that they would get to watch more TV, but Nana said no. Instead she suggested that they play with some of the toys that Mommy had sent for them when she had packed their things that morning. She opened up the bag and saw that there were some games and a few other things to play with.

Butch said that he wasn't going to play any games with a baby like her, so Nana said that they would play a game and that she could pick. Butch could sit and sulk if he wanted, but he wouldn't spoil their fun. Prudence liked that. Whenever she played games at home with her brothers, they got to pick because they were older. So she picked Candyland.

Playing Candyland with Nana was fun. But then again, she had hardly ever gotten to play it. The boys said that it was too easy. Sometimes Trelawney played with her, but not very often now that she lived with Grammy. They were playing their third game when Grampie came in and told her and Butch to go upstairs and get ready for bed.

"It's too early," complained Butch.

"It's 7:30," said Grampie.

"Yeah, well, we don't have to go to bed until 8:30," answered Butch in a very fresh voice.

"You will do as I tell you, young man," said Grampie in a very strict voice. "Or you will not only get ready for bed now, you will go to bed now."

Prudence looked at Butch in surprise. Grampie was never that strict with them. Grammy was, but Grampie was supposed to be the fun one. Butch must have realized that Grampie meant business, because he just said, yes sir, and followed her upstairs.

"Why do you think that Grampie's so crabby?" Prudence whispered when they got up the stairs.

"I don't know," he said. "But if we know what's good for us, we better mind him."

Prudence nodded. If Grampie got too mad at them then he might not wake them up if the baby was born tonight.

They both got into their pajamas and went to sit on the top step to wait for the grown ups to finish talking. They tried to listen to them, but they talked too softly. Suddenly, Prudence got scared.

"Butch," she whispered. "Do you think that something is wrong with Mommy and the baby?"

"Why do you think that?" whispered Butch back.

"I don't know," she said. "But it seems like every time that grown ups won't tell you something that it means that something bad is going to happen."

Butch thought about this. Prudence knew that he agreed with her, but he didn't want to say it.

"Well," he said. "Sometimes grown ups had secrets that are good secrets."

"I don't think that this is a good secret," she said.

"Why is that?"

"Because Grampie had his worried look on his face," she answered. "And because he was mean to you. Grampie is never mean to us."

"I think I'm getting hungry," said Butch. "Let's go down and ask for a snack."

They walked down the stairs together. When they went into the living room, Nana and Grampie stopped talking. She and Butch looked at each other. Grampie had that "I thought I told you to go upstairs look" on his face. At least Nana was nice.

"Do you want something, children?" she asked kindly.

"We're getting kind of hungry," said Butch. "Can we get a snack?"

Now Nana and Grampie looked at each other.

"Are you getting nervous, Butch?" asked Grampie.

"What makes you say that?" said Butch.

"Well, Butch," he said. "We all know that whenever you are nervous, you get hungry. So all I want to know is if you are nervous."

"Yeah, kind of," said Butch. Prudence nodded in agreement.

"Why are you nervous?" asked Nana.

"Because whenever grown ups don't want you to hear what they are talking about," explained Prudence. "It means that something bad might happen. Is everything okay with Mommy and the baby?"

Grampie sat down on the couch. He was starting to look nice again.

"Come here, children," he said quietly, holding out his arms.

Prudence and Butch came over to him. Prudence sat on his knee and Butch sat next to him on the other side. Nana sat down next to Prudence.

"You have nothing to worry about concerning your Mommy and the baby," he said. "They are both fine. The baby is taking a little longer to come than we thought, but that is not unusual. First babies often take longer to come."

"But this isn't a first baby," objected Prudence.

"It is for Mom," said Butch. "That's what you mean, Grampie, isn't it?"

"That's exactly what I mean," answered Grampie. "I don't think that the baby will be coming until tomorrow."

"Okay," said Butch. "If nothing is wrong with the baby, then why don't you want us to hear what you are saying?"

"I know that it seems like everything right now is about the baby," said Nana. "But there are some things that are not. And those things have nothing to do with you."

"Oh," said Prudence. "But we don't have to worry about Mommy and the baby?"

"Not at all," she said with a smile.

"Can we get a snack anyway?" asked Butch.

"Certainly," said Nana, with a smile. "I believe that we still have some chocolate ice cream in the freezer."

"Yummy!" said Prudence, as they ran off to the kitchen. As long as everything was okay with Mommy, they could talk about their grown up stuff all they wanted. It was probably boring anyway.

About an hour later, Nana tucked Prudence into Trelawney's bed. She looked around the room.

"Trelawney doesn't have many toys, does she?" she asked.

"Trelawney doesn't like lots of toys," explained Prudence. "Uncle Bob and Uncle Ben and Grammy and Grampie all tried to give her lots of toys last year when they came to visit, but they made her cry."

"Nobody ever told me that," she said.

"That's because Trelawney only cried later," said Prudence. "She cried because she didn't want toys, she wanted her Mum and Papa. But she doesn't cry because they give her books now. She likes books."

"I can see that," said Nana. "Is this Trelawney's dolly?"

"Yes, this is Tessa," said Prudence. "She came with Trelawney from England. I guess they forgot to bring her to our house for her. I hope that she doesn't miss her too much."

"Does Trelawney sleep with her every night?" asked Nana.

Prudence nodded. "Every night."

"Well, at least you can keep Tessa company tonight," said Nana. "Maybe someone can bring her down to her tomorrow."

"Can we?" asked Prudence hopefully. "Then maybe we can see Mommy too."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Prudence," said Nana. "But you and I are going to do something very special together tomorrow, just the two of us."

"Really?" she said. "After church?"

"No sweetie, we need to leave too early," Nana said. "I think that it would be okay if you missed church once."

"Did you ask Mommy about that?" asked Prudence uncertainly. "Mommy _always _makes us go to church."

"Don't worry about it," said Nana. "Your Mommy will have other things to think about tomorrow."

"You mean the baby?"

"Yes," said Nana. "We are all pretty sure that the baby is coming tomorrow."

"Maybe we can see her when we get back," said Prudence.

"If she's there, then I promise you that we can see her, but she might not be there yet," explained Nana.

Prudence thought about that.

"Nana," she asked. "Do you think that my angel Mommy is happy that my earth Mommy is having a new baby?"

"What made you ask a thing like that?" asked Nana, looking confused.

"I don't know," she said. "The thought just popped into my head. And I'm asking you, because you knew my angel Mommy and I didn't."

Nana sat very still. Finally she said, "Prudence, I knew your angel Mommy better than anyone else. And I know that she would be very happy that your earth Mommy is having a baby. Especially if it's a girl."

"Why is that?" she asked.

"Because she knows that you always wanted a baby sister," she said.

"Did you know that Daddy promised that he and Mommy would keep trying very hard to get me a baby sister if this is a baby brother?" she asked.

"Yes, Prudence," said Nana. "I think that you have told that to every family member that you have ever met, in some cases more than once."

"Oh," said Prudence. "Well, I don't think he's going to have to try so hard."

"And why is that?" she asked.

"Because Mrs. Clancy says that it's going to be a girl and she's never wrong," she answered.

"Somehow, I can believe that," said Nana. "Now it's time for you to snuggle up and go to sleep. The sooner you fall asleep, the sooner that morning will come."

"That's what Mommy always says, goodnight Nana."

"Goodnight, Prudence," she said and gave her a kiss.

Prudence snuggled down in Trelawney's bed and heard the light click off. She really did want to fall asleep fast. She wanted to be able to dream about Mommy and her new baby sister. And then when she woke up, she was going to go someplace really special with her Nana. And then the baby would come. Tomorrow was going to be a very good day.

_To be continued . . . _


	5. Chapter 5

**The Waiting Time 5**

**At the House**

Hal was relieved when Trelawney was finally at the house after her theatre program. He could hear the usual chattering that usually accompanied her entrances anywhere that she went from the bedroom. He knew that Phoebe wanted everyone to be there. As he predicted, as soon as she woke up and saw the time, she wanted to see her. Mother went down to get her and in a minute or two she came bouncing into the bedroom.

"Oh, Phoebe, this is so terribly exciting!" she cried.

Phoebe looked at her as if she didn't really agree, but smiled and patted the bed beside her. She made a valiant effort to pretend that everything was normal.

"Did you have a good day at your theatre class?" she asked.

"Oh, it was splendid!" she said, sitting down. "We were reading parts from "Much Ado About Nothing," and I got to be Hero! Fancy that!"

"Yes, fancy that," replied Phoebe, clearly attempting to be enthusiastic. "And of course Francine was Beatrice."

"Of course!" she replied. "How did you guess?"

"Knowing Francine, it is just the sort of part that she would get," she said. "Could you see where Emmeline is?"

"Oh, she's downstairs talking to Mr. Williams," she said. "Shall I get her?"

"Please."

Trelawney then bounced out into the hall and called out to Emmeline that Phoebe wanted to see her. An act that earned her a stern rebuke from Mrs. Clancy about hollering near the "delivery room." But the girl just laughed and came running back in to sit beside her sister. Hal was sitting in his own place, on a chair on the other side of the bed. Phoebe was looking somewhat less miserable than before her nap, but not by much. Mrs. Clancy checked her again and shook her head.

"Still closed up tight!" she said. "I'm afraid that we may not see this child until tomorrow."

Phoebe closed her eyes in resignation, but Trelawney clapped her hands and said, "Oh how lovely!"

"What!"

Everyone else in the room looked at her in amazement, even Phoebe. Trelawney looked around with her own astonished glance.

"Because then she'll be Sunday's child!" she exclaimed.

"Sunday's child?" asked Hal slowly.

"'For the child that's born on the Sabbath Day is blithe and bonny and good and gay.'" she quoted. "If she were born today then she would be Saturday's child and 'Saturday's child must work for a living.' It is so much lovelier to be Sunday's child than Saturday's. I am Sunday's child!"

"Oh, yes," said Hal. "That's just lovely."

"You don't want the baby to be like her Auntie Trelawney?" she asked mischievously.

"Well," he hedged. "I was kind of hoping that she would be more like Phoebe."

"What day was Phoebe born on?" asked Tom who had come in with Emmeline.

"Tuesday," she said immediately. "'Tuesday's child is full of grace.'"

"Well, that's appropriate," said Tom, with a bit of mischief in his own voice. "Only I don't think that she's feeling too graceful right now."

Phoebe looked at him reproachfully.

"Okay," he said. "First Emmeline and now you. It seems you Figalillys don't have a very good sense of humor today."

"What put Emmeline out of sorts?" Hal asked curiously. As a general rule, Emmeline was very sanguine about things.

"I told the good king that she was the warrior maiden," replied Trelawney. "And he made the mistake of asking her how she liked her name."

"Oh," said Hal. "I always wondered what your name was for her. Very appropriate, I must say."

With a "humph," Emmeline left the room.

"I hope you haven't hurt her feelings, dear," said Mother.

"Only her pride," replied Trelawney with a giggle. "Em takes herself _most _seriously."

"And of course that leaves her open to this kind of, what shall we say, insult," added Tom.

"Don't worry, Mama Kate," said Trelawney confidently. "She'll be back when she cools off. You know how she can't help but stick her nose into everyone's business."

"I heard that!" called Emmeline from outside the room.

Everyone laughed, including Phoebe. Hal was pleased. Perhaps her mood was turning around a little.

"Do you see why you all need me here?" asked the girl. "I am able to make my Phoebe laugh, even if she is feeling miserable. But just think, the little babe is almost here!"

"Well, I think that depends on your definition of 'almost,'" said Mother. "But now that you're all here, I think that it's time that we thought about some dinner."

"I really don't feel like eating anything," said Phoebe.

"Well you better think again," said Mrs. Clancy sternly. "I'll not have a mother weak from hunger trying to push that little one out tomorrow. You have to keep your strength up, dearie."

"Okay, Mrs. Clancy," she said with a sigh. "What do you recommend?"

"Some broth and toast and a little tea," she said. "It will make you feel better, I promise."

"I'll go down and take care of it," said Mother efficiently. "And I'll whip up something more substantial for the rest of us."

"May I help you?" asked Mrs. Morgan. "There's nothing for me to do right now and I am feeling a bit restless."

"And after you eat, Mrs. Morgan," said Mrs. Clancy, taking control again. "You'll be off to bed. We don't need both of us up all night, so we'll sleep in shifts. That way we'll both be fresh tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am," answered Mrs. Morgan obediently. But before she left the room, when the older woman wasn't looking, she gave them all a wink.

Hal was rather pleased with all of the light-hearted teasing and laughter in the room. He could see that it was calming and somewhat distracting for Phoebe. It would also make the waiting time less stressful for all of them. Unfortunately, Trelawney was getting so wound up that she had started to bounce up and down on the bed.

"Trelawney, darling," said Phoebe. "Please settle down, you're making me seasick."

"I'm sorry, Phoebe," she said. "I didn't mean to make you stomach sick again. I mean we all know that you had enough of that a few months ago."

Phoebe grimaced at her, but when she had settled down, she gestured for her to come closer. She began to stroke her long blond curls.

"You should really let us get you a haircut soon, sweetheart," she said. "I believe that your hair is becoming most unmanageable."

"That's what Mama Kate says every morning when she has to comb it out and braid it," replied the girl cheerfully. "But Mum always liked it long."

Phoebe stared off into space.

"I remember the night you were born," she said quietly.

Trelawney's smile faded and she curled up next to her sister. Hal knew that although Trelawney herself did not obviously remember it, she had been told the story many times. He had no doubt that this was a bittersweet moment for them both. If their parents were alive and they were in the village then he knew that they would both be present. It occurred to him that that this could be why Trelawney and Phoebe both wanted the good king and the good queen present. They were the surrogates for their own parents.

He picked up Phoebe's other hand and kissed it. She smiled softly back at him. She knew that he wanted her to remember that he was there for her. She wanted him to know that she loved him for it. It was a warm feeling to know that they had reached a point in their relationship where they could communicate without words.

But he looked beyond Phoebe and noticed that Trelawney had curled into her little "sad ball," as Prudence called it, tears were slipping down her cheeks. Phoebe followed his glance and saw the same thing. She let go of his hand and reached over to hold the little girl in her arms. There was really nothing to say or do for it.

Tom looked at Trelawney with a very bewildered look on his face. Barely two minutes ago the child was laughing and teasing. Now she was weeping. Hal knew that he would have to explain to him later about Trelawney's rapid mood shifts. She was very sensitive to the feelings around her, which was one of the reasons that she sometimes had trouble with self-control. Her own emotions could be very erratic as well. But right now all they could do was let her cry it out.

After a time, she settled down and just lay quietly beside her sister. Hal suspected that for the time being she would be docile, a point proven out when Mother called them downstairs for dinner. She got up and obediently prepared to go downstairs. But before she left the room, she turned to Mrs. Clancy.

"Please, Mrs. Clancy," she asked politely. "May Phoebe come downstairs with us to eat?"

"Why that's a fine suggestion," the midwife replied.

After Hal helped Phoebe get out of bed and Tom and Trelawney helped her go downstairs, Mrs. Clancy indicated that she wanted him to stay back for a second.

"That is a most peculiar child," she said.

"That's one way of looking at it," said Hal. "As her relatives all say, she is a little fey. But she is also very kind and sweet. She adores her sister."

"That is very obvious," replied Mrs. Clancy. "I'm curious however, why isn't she living here with you?"

"It's a long story," said Hal. "It's mostly because Phoebe couldn't give her the kind of attention she needed while she was pregnant. My mother takes very good care of her and for the moment my parents are her legal guardians. She is only living up the street. We have made sure that she and Phoebe see each other every day and have their own time together."

"I could see how much she loves your mother," she replied. "What did she call her? Mama Kate?"

"Yes, that's what she calls her," he said. "She's had some difficulties adjusting to life in America. Fortunately, Mother understands her very well. She has been teaching her at home since February. Public school was a big problem. In September she will be starting in a private school."

"She really is a little love," said Mrs. Clancy thoughtfully. "But I guess that that quality wasn't really appreciated there."

"No," said Hal slowly. "But the biggest problem was that one of her teachers was extremely insensitive to the fact that she had barely lost her parents seven months ago and it made it difficult to read some of the books. She has two friends who were very loyal and stood by her. They will also be going to the same school with her."

"She is very excited about this baby," she commented.

"Well, both she and my wife are hoping for a girl," he explained. "If it's a girl then she will be named Margaret after their mother."

"Well, I can tell you right now that it's going to be a girl," she replied. "And I'm never wrong!"

Hal smiled at her.

"Thank you, Mrs. Clancy," he said. "I wasn't really sure about how I felt about this idea of home birth. But you have made me feel a lot better about it."

"I'm glad," she said returning his smile. "Now if we don't go downstairs to eat, I am pretty sure that Miss Trelawney will be hollering up the stairs for us to come down."

"I'm sure that she will," he agreed. As he followed the older woman down the stairs he realized that many of the good points that Phoebe had explained to them about a home birth were very true. However, he was still feeling nervous about what would happen when the active labor kicked in. At least he had complete faith in Mrs. Clancy to make sure that things turned out well.

After dinner, they returned to bedroom, but now all of them were getting restless. Trelawney offered to play the piano for them if they went downstairs. Hal sat on the couch with Phoebe curled up beside him. The music was light and calming. Not surprisingly, she fell asleep.

Mrs. Clancy didn't want to wake her, so he carried her up and tucked her into bed. Then the sleeping arrangements were discussed. Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Clancy were to be in the boys' room directly across the hall. Mother and Emmeline would sleep in the two beds in Prudence's room, but there was no longer a bed in Phoebe's old room because it had been transformed into the nursery.

He wasn't exactly sure of how it was decided, but he and Tom would gallantly bunk downstairs in the living room. Trelawney would be permitted to sleep with Phoebe, if she promised to be quiet. But the girl was already half-asleep after a long and exciting day.

"Don't worry," she said. "At home Phoebe and I always slept in the same bed. I was afraid of the dark and she couldn't sleep with the light on, so she always held my hand. Then I wasn't afraid."

Hal knew this but a few of the others didn't. However, Mrs. Clancy assured her that the light would stay on. She curled up on the other side of the bed and conked out almost immediately.

"She's so small and light that Phoebe will hardly know that she's there," commented Mrs. Clancy.

"Phoebe will know that she's there," responded Emmeline. "They are very close. Auntie Meg brought them up that way."

Mrs. Clancy nodded.

After he and Tom settled in, Tom said, "You know, at times this feels a little surreal to me. Here I am in my daughter's house, about to attend the birth of the half-sibling to her children. And Bernice is up the street helping to mind Butch and Prudence."

"I can see how you would feel that way," admitted Hal. "There are times when I see Bernice and Phoebe together and I still can't quite believe it myself."

"Bernice hasn't been this content since Stephen passed away," he replied. "That was almost sixteen years ago. It's little Trelawney. Do you know that Bernice calls her 'her little angel'?"

"No, I didn't," said Hal. "But there are many times now when I think of her as a little angel myself. She may be mischievous, but there isn't a mean bone in her body. She is nothing but gentle, kind, and loving, when she's not being exuberant. But her self-control is improving, as she gets older. Well, somewhat."

"Yes, she is," said Tom. He was then silent.

"Goodnight, Tom," said Hal. "We'll both need our sleep. I suspect that tomorrow is going to be a very long day."

"Goodnight, Hal," replied Tom absentmindedly. Hal suspected that he was still contemplating Trelawney.

"**Chance" Encounter**

"Is this seat taken?"

With a note of amusement that she couldn't keep out of her voice, Sylvia looked down at her brother Liam as his eyes popped open.

"Oh, bloody hell, Sylvia!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"It's nice to see you too, Liam," she replied cheerfully. "Myself? Yes, I'm doing very well thank you, and you?"

"Should of known that I'd run into the likes of you up here," he complained. "And I suppose that you are here to save me from myself."

"Not entirely," she replied pleasantly. "Now shove over and allow your little sister to sit down."

"If you insist."

"I do insist," she said, now feeling annoyed. "In fact, I can produce the ticket that assigns me to this seat if you like."

"Of course you can," he grumbled as he moved over a seat. "How did you get on this flight anyway?"

"The usual way," she said, with a bit of mischief in her eyes. "But we don't have time for small talk. Em's put out the alert. We need to get to Phoebe and Trelawney as soon as we can before things start happening. Auntie just can't leave things alone. More premonitions designed to cause trouble. Now they're all holed up at the Professor's house, trying to keep everyone safe."

"Who's holed up?"

"Well, Phoebe and the Professor of course, and Emmeline and Trelawney," she replied. "The good king and the good queen are there, as well as the midwife and the nurse."

"Well, that's good," he said. "The midwife an old dragon, is she?"

"Only the best for our Phoebe!" she answered. "She picked her out herself. Oh, yes, and Elspeth is there."

"Well, that's no surprise," he replied. "Elspeth's a good egg. She'll take care of everything until I get there."

"I knew there was a reason why I didn't want to see you," she said. "You're not allowed to be at the house. We will be staying up the street at the grandparents' house until the baby is born. If you show up, then you'll scare the living daylights out of Phoebe and young Trelawney. As far as they know, you're still guarding Cholmondeley and keeping him away. The little one would be hysterical if she thought that he was out here unattended, so to speak."

"But she'll know that I'll be there to protect her," he said. "One way or the other, the bastard will go nowhere near that child."

"You know that's not the answer," she said, beginning to worry.

"Yes, it is," he answered defiantly. "And if I had followed my own good instincts a year ago then we wouldn't be in this pickle right now."

"William Figalilly, this is no way for a future _paterfamilias_ to behave," she scolded. "You've got to have good judgment and not go off doing things without properly thinking them through. Now you've done the best you can to keep your eye on him. You have absolutely no idea of where he might be now, do you?"

"No," he admitted. "But California is the most logical place."

"By whose logic?" she asked sensibly.

"Mine!" he replied defensively.

"Okay, love," she said patiently. "Now don't get all mad at me, but how do you come to that conclusion?"

"Well, this is the way I figure it," he explained. "Now when Johnny meets up with us, it's all fun and games the first day. Then the next morning I wake up and they've both given me the slip. They even left me stuck with the hotel bill. Cholmondeley and I have been best pals for over a year. Now we all know what Johnny's about, and that's redeeming himself in the eyes of Grandfather. To do that he needs Trelawney."

"So far, Liam," said Sylvia. "None of this explains why Johnny and Cholmondeley are to show up in California."

"Now, be patient, love," he said getting annoyed. "I'm getting to that part. Johnny's Mum has also told him to go find Cholmondeley and tell him what's up. Now when he finds out that the little one has told on him, he wants to get his hands on Trelawney too. But he's too smart for our Johnny. Johnny thinks that all that they have to do is get the little one back to the village and then Cholmondeley's off the hook and Grandfather is happy. Then Johnny saves the day."

"You may not be far off," admitted Sylvia. "But surely they know that our family is going to make sure the child stays safe. In fact, as Emmeline has told me, she's as secure as can be at Phoebe's house waiting for the baby with the rest of them."

"Yes, well, you know that as soon as that baby shows up, Trelawney will be the last one on anyone's mind," he said. "That's when they'll make their move. Now if I'm there, the rest of the family can do all the fussing that they want over the baby and I'll keep the little one safe."

"I don't know, Liam," she said doubtfully. "Things could go wrong very quickly if you're not careful. They're not going to let you near Trelawney and Phoebe until after the baby's safely born, and even then maybe not. We don't want any nightmares for them again if they find out that Cholmondeley's gotten away."

"Don't you see, Syl?" he said. "They'll never rest easy until he's gone once and for all. As long as everyone believes our Trelawney about the damage he's done to her, he's a marked man. He can't go back to the village or nothing. It's him or her, there's no two ways about it."

"That is a bit drastic, brother," she replied. "Isn't it?"

"I'll go through it again," he said. "She'll have no peace while he's out there, because nobody can stick to him for the rest of his life. And his life is a misery unless he can prove her wrong, which he can't while she's alive. Once she's gone it's his word against Auntie Agatha. And she's not exactly the most competent witness if you catch my drift. Especially since she only discerned the matter from another little girl's mind. Can I make it any plainer than that?"

Sylvia was silent. She knew that he was right. There would be no peace for either one of them until the other was gone. Liam couldn't follow him around forever. Who knew when he would have to return to the village and marry? Dad was already making noises about him coming home and doing his duty by the family. He had even found him a couple of the pretty Chenowith girls for him to choose from. Pretty girls they were and quite homely. Either one of them would make a worthy Figalilly wife. And with a cousin already married to Christabel, they could be counted on as a good, solid family.

"You realize, Liam," she said slowly. "That if you take your plan to its logical conclusion, you won't be fit to follow Dad as _paterfamilias. _You also know that such an action would damn your soul for many lifetimes. The little one would never forgive herself if you took such action on her account."

"I'd make her understand that it was my only choice," he said. "She'd be able to understand simple logic."

"Liam, please listen!" she begged. "The child is a little fey. She can't understand that kind of reasoning. She'd harm herself before she'd let you damn your own soul. And if you do, I can guarantee it will break her heart. She's a fragile little thing. Those such as her never live long lives. And think about Phoebe. After all these months of grieving and sadness, she's as happy as can be about to give birth to this baby. She's sworn to keep Trelawney safe. If anything happens to the little one it will break her heart as well."

"I am keeping Trelawney safe," he replied. "It's the only way I know how. Should she spend the whole of her life looking over her shoulder for that bastard? No, Syl, this is the only way."

Sylvia shook her head. He just couldn't see it. He had his points, but in the end, there would be no way to hide such an action from the child. And she did love him. She loved all in the family, but Liam had always charmed her. It was no wonder that he felt so strongly about her. They all did. But his moral compass was way off on this one.

Trelawney was pure light and goodness. Those such as she were always a threat to the forces of the dark. And in this present situation, it would appear that the poor child was caught in a conundrum. It seemed that one way or another, the forces of the dark would win. It would either be Cholmondeley trying to protect himself by hurting her or Liam trying to protect her by hurting him. You cannot beat the darkness with itself. You can only strengthen it. Strengthen the darkness and it could do away with Trelawney. And without Trelawney, what would happen to Maisie?

As Sylvia watched her brother brood in silence, she made her own silent plea to the angel. He must know what was happening. He must know the complexity of the situation that now faced them. He must know, so that he could guard the young girl who had been placed under his protection.

She remembered her own sight of the little girl and her peaceful blue aura and the twinkling of white lights that had so briefly appeared. There was so much more to this child than any of them knew, or perhaps could know. Like many of her kind, she was an ethereal being who existed somewhere between heaven and earth. How often had Auntie Meg had to tell people that God never makes mistakes? Just as any of them, Trelawney had been put on this earth for a purpose. But it was not for anyone but God to say what that purpose was.

Liam had now shifted himself so that his back was to her. She knew that he was furious that she was there to spoil his plans, whatever they were. She was hoping against hope that he was wrong, and that Johnny and Cholmondeley were off somewhere else. It was one of the few times that she regretted that they were able to move between places with such ease. No doubt they would get where they were going by alternative means, so to speak. It would make them impossible to track.

She was lucky that Liam had chosen a more traditional means of transportation, but then he didn't really know where to go in California once he got there. Hopefully it would be Rob Everett who would be there to meet them at the airport. He might be able to talk some sense into her brother. Despite the disruption to her own life she was secretly pleased that she would be in town for Phoebe's baby. They all knew that she was fated to be a most blessed child of light. Her destiny was a special one. And they would all be there to make sure that she would live to fulfill it.

**Epilogue**

By early evening, Phoebe was ready to go out of her mind. The pains, which were not that bad, were coming at irregular intervals. The last time that Mrs. Clancy had checked she was still not dilated even one centimeter. Everyone else was hanging around the bedroom trying to make conversation. Finally, Trelawney, who was getting very restless, had an idea.

"All of this sitting and waiting is getting us nowhere," she declared. "Why don't we all go downstairs and I'll play some Mozart for you all. There's no reason why Phoebe has to be in bed, Mrs. Clancy, is there?"

"None that I can think of," she replied. "When she needs to be in bed, she'll know it before the rest of us."

"Jolly good!" she said cheerfully. "So let's go downstairs!"

Everyone followed her downstairs except Mrs. Morgan, who was sleeping. Mrs. Clancy had decided that one of them should sit awake with Phoebe for the night. Mrs. Morgan would be getting up at 2 am, so she had gone to bed early. Fortunately, she was used to working irregular shifts at the hospital, so falling asleep was not a problem.

Elspeth met them at the bottom of the stairs, clearly grateful for the company. Phoebe noticed that she was on her best behavior, no doubt warned by both Trelawney and Emmeline that it wouldn't take much for her to be banished up the street with Waldo. What could not be explained to Mrs. Clancy was that Elspeth's primary responsibility was to watch over Trelawney. As Rob had earlier noted, it was lucky that she wasn't an enormous hairy breed like Waldo.

Trelawney seated herself at the piano and Elspeth parked herself next to the piano bench. She warmed up with a few scales.

"Professor," she said sternly. "How many times have I told you that you must keep this piano in tune?"

Hal rolled his eyes. He hated it when she scolded him. But that was Trelawney. Before he could answer she began to play their mother's favorite piece. She and Hal were seated together on the couch, so she snuggled up against him. Forgetting the girl's teasing, he drew her closer and began to stroke her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder. It was a gesture that never failed to sooth her.

Catherine and Emmeline sat in the chairs opposite them and Mrs. Clancy sat on the love seat with her knitting. Only Tom seemed restless. Trelawney took note even though her back was turned to them.

"The good king must relax himself," she said as her fingers danced over the keys. "There is nothing more that can be done tonight."

He looked over at her and then seated himself in another one of the chairs. Now that everyone was settled, Phoebe felt that she could relax. Her sister's music was always soothing, especially when she played Mozart. Sitting so close to Hal made her feel safe. Now that she was accustomed to the occasional twinges of pain, she knew that nothing was likely to happen soon.

She could feel Maisie stirring a little. No doubt she was letting her know that it wouldn't be long before they would finally meet face to face. She looked over at her sister happily playing the piano, having now switched from Mozart to Chopin. She remembered when she was finally born after hours of pushing, Mum had told old Mrs. Pengally to give the baby to her. She recalled the feeling of holding the tiny little one in her arms.

The babe had been crying until she held her and she looked up at her with her trusting sky blue eyes. It was at that moment that she knew that Mum had wanted them to always be close. In fact when she started rooting, she had only reluctantly handed her over to her Mum. Now, she would hold her own baby first. And when the child starting rooting, she would be the one to nurse her.

She found herself drifting off to the peaceful sound of the music. Resting as she was on Hal's shoulder, she could feel his heart beat. After a moment, she was lulled into a most delightful and restful sleep.

When she woke up, she was in bed and it was still dark out. She lifted herself up.

"Hal?" she asked.

"Do you want me to wake him?" It was Mrs. Morgan's voice. That meant that it was after two.

"What happened?" she asked, feeling a bit confused.

Mrs. Morgan moved over to the chair where Hal had been sitting beside the bed.

"Mrs. Clancy told me that you were all listening to your little sister playing piano downstairs and you fell asleep," she said quietly. "Your husband carried you up to bed. He's sleeping downstairs in the living room with Tom. Your sister is right here beside you."

Phoebe looked over and saw the little figure curled up in a ball. She was so small and light that she hadn't even noticed her.

"Catherine and Emmeline are down the hall in the one bedroom," she said. "Mrs. Clancy is in the one across the hall."

"Don't wake up Hal," she replied. "I have a feeling that tomorrow going to be a very long day."

"So do I," smiled the nurse. "You're very close to active labor. Both Mrs. Clancy and I can feel it. You're lucky that you're not in a hospital or they might have started a Pitocin IV drip by now."

Phoebe was confused.

"To induce labor," she explained. "The doctors can get impatient. I think that it's better this way. Things will start in their own time and everything will be okay. You'll see."

Phoebe looked up into the kindly woman's face. She knew from their interview that she had assisted in many births. Despite her own desire to get things moving, she was still afraid. Mrs. Morgan must have sensed her fear.

"Every mother is frightened the first time she gives birth," she said gently. "It is an awesome and life changing experience. We know that your child is strong and healthy and you are also a strong and healthy young woman. If the prospect of the pain is really too frightening, there is still enough time to get you to the hospital where you can get some kind of anesthesia."

Phoebe swallowed.

"I know," she said. "But this is the way that I want to do it. I am more afraid to go to hospital than I am to have the baby here."

"I'm not sure that I understand," said Mrs. Morgan.

"Neither do I," she said. "But I am afraid that if I go to the hospital something could go wrong. I feel safer here. I don't know why, I just do."

"Then we'll go with your instincts," said Mrs. Morgan. "You know what is best for you and your baby. Why don't you try to go back to sleep now?"

Phoebe nodded and looked at Trelawney lying beside her as she had often done before. Out of habit, she picked up the little girl's hand and held it. She could feel the energy of the girl's aura strengthening her heart. Even though the child was sleeping, there was a connection between them that could never be broken. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep again. She was safe, and so was Maisie. And tomorrow, they would finally meet.

**The End**


End file.
